Lost Time
by lmaoxlovee
Summary: Best friends, then one stupid argument changed it all. A school assignment brings their friendship back, or is it more than friendship? Bring crazy parties, good friends, and psychos in to the mix and see what happens. Troyella!
1. Best Friends

**Hey guys, first story so enjoy!...i hope:)**

**By the way, this chapter might seem sucky, just keep reading please, it gets so much better near the later chapters, I promise! Sneak peak at what's coming up: love, parties, and psychos. Keep reading and reviews would be much appreciated.  
**

**Chapter 1- Best Friends**

"Gabriella! Come downstairs, you haven't even had breakfast! Troy's already here, and if you don't hurry he's gonna eat it all!" Maria Montez yelled to her daughter Gabriella from the downstairs kitchen.

Gabriella Montez, age 15, was fixing her hair when she heard her mom and said with a smile, "ugh Troy, so typical." She grabbed her bag and headed down the stairs in a hurry.

"Hey Gabs, your breakfast is good," Troy Bolton, Gabriella's long time best friend said with a grin on his face. Troy scanned Gabriella from head to toe quickly, just like he always did. She wore dark blue jeans, converse sneakers, and a t-shirt.

"Haha very funny, I'm not really hungry anyways I'll just have a piece of toast." Gabriella said grabbing the toast on Troy's plate while sticking her tongue out at him.

"Come on, were gonna miss the bus, bye Miss Montez!" Troy said running out of the house grabbing Gabriella's hand.

They arrived to the bright colors of their school, East High, and got out of the big yellow schoolbus.

"Just wait 'til I can drive then we can screw buses and ride in style." Troy commented.

"Gabriella!" A voice from behind them called. It was Matt Nolan, one of the high school's major flirts, who was incredibly handsome and charming.

"Uhh, hey Matt what's up?" Gabriella said looking completely shocked he was talking to _her_ and then glancing at Troy for a second. Matt stood there for a few seconds then said, "I was wondering, well hoping you would go out with me tonight." Gabriella's jaw dropped and she stuttered, "ugh…o..out…me."

Making the end sound like a question. She looked at Troy who looked just as shocked as her.

"Absolutely! I mean yeah I'd love to go out tonight..with you." She said with a wide grin on her face.

"What!" Gabriella turned to see that it was Troy who just said that. Matt interrupted, "well anyways, so sweet heart, I'll pick you up around 7, I know where you live." Gabriella smiled, while Troy was trying not to yell out in fury, _what do you see in him! He just called you sweetheart like he was in the freaking 80s and what the hell, how'd he know where you live? stalker!_ Troy couldn't help but be jealous. He was working up the courage to tell her how he felt, that he really, really cared about her and not just as a friend. He got snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Matt start speed walking away, yelling back once, "See yah tomorrow! Trust me, I'm excited," with a mischievous look on his face.

Gabriella turned to Troy, "Oh my god, oh my god! Matt Nolan just asked _me_ out!"

Troy looked at her with a disgusted face, "How could you agree to go out with that tool!"

"What? What are you talking about! He's not…a tool." She said confused.

"Yeah he actually is and you know it! You just like him cause he's popular!" Troy yelled out.

Gabriella opened her mouth in shock, "How can you think that! You should be happy for me! You really think I would just go out with someone cause of their status? What kind of person do you think I am?"

"Yes I do think that. Hes gone out with like half the girls at East High, and sometimes more than one at a time! To him you're just another girl to keep him entertained!" He said.

"I am not! You're overreacting! If you get to know him, Matt's a really good guy." She said thoughtfully.

"Mmhmm. I'm sure you would know if he was a nice guy or not, seeing as though he talked to you for the _first _time today!" He said with sarcasm and then paused for a few seconds and said, "You know what, do what you want. But don't come crying to me when he leaves you for another girl, probably some slut on the cheerleading squad."

Gabriella looked furious. Troy started walking away when she yelled to him, "Okay, since he asked me out, does that make me a slut? Huh Troy?"

"Guess so! You're just another slut!" As soon as Troy said it he regretted it. He just called his best friend a slut. He stopped and started walking back towards Gabriella, who he saw had tears starting to fall from her eyes. "Gabs, I didn't mean it, I'm so-" and was cut off by Gabriella "Don't. Don't ever call me Gabs again. Don't ever talk, call, or text me ever again!" And at that, Gabriella ran off into the school right when the warning bell rung. She was devastated, he had never talked to her like that or called her names like that, knowing she despised girls like that.

Troy stood there, shocked. He just jeopardized his friendship, because he was caught up in jealousy.

He started running in after her and when he saw her at her locker, trying to hide the tears from the crowds of people in the hallway, he slowly walked up to her and before he could say anything, Gabriella spoke, "I mean it Bolton. What you said was unforgivable. We are no longer friends, especially not best friends. Just please, stay away from me." The late bell rung and she walked away. Away from their friendship and away from his life.

**Okay so I just rewrote this whole chapter because I hated it haha! Review!**

**That was dramatic! I know you're probably thinking Gabriella overreacted, but if not, there wouldn't be a story, thanks for reading! Review!**


	2. Romeo and Juliet

**I've been really thinking about this story and I have some ideas to make it more interesting! If you have any ideas for me, write it in a review! I'd love to know what you think! Oh yah and trust me, it's not just gonna be a romance, in my summaries it says psychos (hint hint) so keep reading and the drama will come in. Not just drama, suspense too;)**

**Chapter 2- Romeo and Juliet**

Gabriella, now seventeen, groaned as the beeping of her alarm clock woke her up. She was dreading the first day of school. She and Troy haven't spoken for two years. She misses him, but she just can't seem to work up the courage to contact him. She used to have dreams all the time about him, but as time passed, the dreams became rare, only showing up on nights her mind drifted to him and their memories. A while after their friendship ended, they both went their separate ways. He tried out for the basketball team, following his dreams and his dad's, who also happens to be the coach. His social status sky rocketed, especially since he soon became the captain of the team. Gabriella watched on the sidelines, proud of her old best friend. She, unlike Troy, just faded into the halls of East High, with only a few friends and a shy demeanor.

Gabriella sighed, not looking forward to another year of pining for her old best friend and walking through the halls invisible. She got up from bed with a frown and got ready, maybe if she looked like she was happy to be going to school, eventually she would be.

"Good morning sweetheart, excited for the first day?" Gabriella's mom, Maria Montez asked after sipping her steaming coffee.

"Ugh, not really, I just want to get this day over with." She replied.

She ate her breakfast quickly, waved to her mom and grabbed her car keys from the counter.

Gabriella looked at the large building in front of her through her windshield and put a smile on her face, getting out of the car slowly in order to stall. As she walked into the school, her fake smile subconsciously turned into a real one, feeling an aura of happiness hit her, as if it was radiating off of every cheerful student in the hall. _Everything looks the same, red and white, the school's colors everywhere and decorated bulletin boards scattered at almost every corner_, she thought. She glanced down at her schedule before finding her locker and opening it. A few seconds later, she turned to see her _new _best friend, Taylor, walking towards her with a grin plastered on her face.

"Hey Gabi!" Taylor said enthusiastically while giving Gabriella a warm hug.

"Morning Tay, how was your summer?" Gabriella replied.

"It was great! How about you?" Said Taylor.

Gabriella shut her locker and turned to Taylor, "my summer…it was okay I guess."

Taylor looked at her with confusion and then locked arms with her and started walking toward their classroom, "hey look there's the basketball boy."

Gabriella looked up immediately, she hadn't seen him the whole summer and when she saw him at school after their argument, they just avoided each other. Taylor snapped Gabriella out of her daze, "yoo-hoo Gabi are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh yah I'm fine… I'm not surprised to see most of the other guys on the basketball team shortly behind Troy." She said trying to sound nonchalant.

"Yeah, he's like their leader. What do you expect?"

Gabriella looked at him, he was so different. He was now the captain of the basketball team and pretty much the most popular guy in school. His lanky form was defined now, you could practically see his muscles through his t-shirt.

"Oh please say he's not in our English class!" Gabriella snapped looking worried.

Taylor looked at her, "why don't you want him to be? It wouldn't really matter anyways, we're like invisible to him and the rest of the basketball team." She paused for a few seconds and then went on, "It looks like he is because he just walked in Miss Darbus' class and we have Miss Darbus."

Gabriella stood their, looking scared. _Uh-oh, I'm going to have to see him every day and hope we don't make eye contact. He must have forgotten about me anyways, so I shouldn't care...right?_

"Come on Gabs, before the late bell rings." Taylor said, snapping Gabriella out of her daydream.

"Tay, I told you not to call me Gabs. Gabi is okay but not Gabs!" She snapped.

Taylor rolled her eyes, "Why not, do you not like that name or something?"

Gabriella thought about what to say, she didn't want to tell her that she didn't want her to call her Gabs because when her and Troy got into the fight that ended their friendship, she yelled at him not to call her Gabs. She didn't let anyone else call her that, not even her mom.

"I...I just don't like it, that's all." She replied hesitantly.

"Okay, if that's what you want. Come on we better hurry." Taylor said while grabbing Gabi's hand and pulling her towards the classroom.

No one was aware that Troy and Gabriella used to be so close, best friends. And Gabriella wanted to keep it that way. Anyways, she thought it would probably screw up Troy's reputation for people to know he actually was friends with her.

Gabriella took a deep breath and walked into the classroom.

"Hey Gabi!" She turned to see her friend Kelsi waving at her. She waved back and turned back around and, _Crash,_ her books fell to the floor. She knelt down to pick them up and when she looked up her eyes locked with the most sparking blue eyes she had ever seen.

"Uh...um I'm sorry I wasn't looking." Troy said breaking away from their gaze.

Troy saw her and his mouth fell open. She was so beautiful. Even more beautiful than she had been the last time he saw her. Her hair was in numerous, long curls over her shoulders and resting on her back. She had deep, brown eyes that he recognized immediately. She'd grown in height and her figure was definitely matured as well. He got up and turned his face to the side, to hide his reddening cheeks.

"It's okay, I wasn't looking either. Sorry." And at that Gabriella immediately got up, smiled at him shyly for a second and walked to the back of the class to the empty desk near Taylor's. She let her hair fall in her face so she wouldn't have the urge to look up at Troy again and also to hide her blush. Half an hour had passed and she couldn't stop thinking about Troy, his eyes especially. His eyes were amazing, deep and blue. Once you looked you couldn't stop.

"Hi Troy!" A high voice said next to him.

"Umm hi Sharpay." He said whilst internally groaning, _oh great, another year of Sharpay not leaving me alone._

Sharpay Evans was one of the most respected girls in the school. People envied her, loathed her, and just plain wanted to be her. She has a twin brother, Ryan, that just seems to follow Sharpay around. Everyone in the school could see she's obsessed with Troy but Troy just finds her annoying.

The teacher, Miss Darbus, walked into the classroom in an extremely eccentric attire. She snapped everyone out of their daydreams, and some out of their real dreams.

"Summer is over kids! The hard work has returned! I have a beginning of the year assignment for you all."

The whole class groaned.

"Don't get too excited." Miss Darbus said sarcastically.

"I will pair you up with a partner and give you a scene from Shakespeare's _Romeo and Juliet_. You will work with your partner to write a detailed report about your given scene."

All Gabriella could think was, _Uh Oh, please give me a good partner, please give me a good partner. _

"When I tell you who you'll be partnering with, you will go sit with them. As you can see, I've already rearranged the desks into groups of two." Miss Darbus said pointing out the change.

Miss Darbus started reading off names and partners, "Taylor McKessie with Chad Danforth."

Taylor rolled her eyes and turned to Gabriella, "oh great I have a jock. I'm probably going to end up doing all of the work!"

Chad looked around to find Taylor and he saw her and Taylor gave him a fake smile. _Yay_, he thought sarcastically.

Miss Darbus went on reading off names and Gabriella heard her name and her head shot up, "Gabriella Montez with…Troy Bolton."

"What!" Troy and Gabriella said simultaneously and the whole class turned to look at them.

Miss Darbus glanced at them and said, "these are your permanent partners, no exceptions. Class, start moving."

At that the whole class got up, grabbed their stuff and started moving, trying to find their partners.

Gabriella grabbed her bag and books and took a deep breath. She walked up to the desk beside Troy and placed her books on it and then sat down, trying to make sure their eyes didn't meet.

Miss Darbus passed around papers to every group with a scene from the play on it. She placed a scene on Gabriella's desk enthusiastically, "This is one of my favorite parts in this play! You will enjoy it, I'm sure of it!" She walked back to the front of the class afterwards and yelled, "well are you all going to just sit there? Get started!"

Troy turned to Gabriella, "Um do you want to write or do you want me to?"

"I'll write I guess, it doesn't matter." She grabbed a pencil from her bag. "How do you want to do this?" She said, still making sure she didn't look directly at him.

"Y...you want to make a plan first? Just jot down some ideas." He replied hesitantly. _Ease up, you're friggin' Troy Bolton, stop sounding like such a pansy! God, the things this girl does to me. _He thought warily.

"Yeah that's a good idea but we should hurry because we have to have a rough draft of the first paragraph done today, because we have to turn it in tomorrow." She said looking at the introduction paper.

"Okay. So got any ideas? Troy said.

"We have to read the scene first Troy." Gabriella replied with a shy giggle.

Troy smiled, he loved her laugh, "oh yeah, right, I knew that."

Gabriella started to read. Troy found it hard to pay attention when all he could do was look at her. He started to daydream. He held his head up with his hand and just looked at her, but was prepared to look away quickly if she turned to look at him.

"Troy, are you even listening?" Gabriella said snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" He said, dumbfounded.

"You know you're not going to be very helpful, if you don't know what scene we have to write the report about. You want me to read it again?"

"Uh yeah, sorry. I got distracted." He said with a sorrowful smile

Gabriella read the scene once more and then turned to look at Troy. "You understand what they're saying right? We should start the rough draft of the first para-" and she was cut off by the bell.

"Oh crap. We have to turn it in tomorrow and we didn't even start it! What are we going to do?" She said looking worried.

"Were gonna have to do it after school today... can you come to my house?" He said very hesitantly. Gabriella hadn't been to his house in a while. It brought back so many memories.

"Um o...okay. I'll come by around five." She grabbed her stuff, smiled slightly at Troy and ran out of the room.

Troy sat there still, thinking to himself, _Gabriella Montez is coming to my house after school today. Talk about awkward. _ But even though he was worried, he was also excited, he hadn't spent time with her in years, literally. He did miss her so much and now, this might be his chance to win her back, and maybe, win her back as more than a friend.

**Okay, so that was fun to write. Gabriella and Troy are reunited...by a school project haha. I'll try and have chapter 3 up soon! Review and give me your opinion! Ideas are great too! Thanks for reading:) REVIEWWW!**


	3. Memories

**Chapter 3! I'm really excited to write this one! Enjoy:) The next chapter is going to show what happened during Gabriella and Matt's date two years ago. I was going to put it in this chapter but I decided not to yet.**

**Chapter 3- Memories**

"Hey Gabi! Okay Spill, tell me everything! I wanna know what you and Troy Bolton talked about! Is he smart or a complete dumbass?" Taylor said excitedly as she ran up to Gabriella at her locker.

"Tay, chill. We just did the assignment. I'm going to his house after school because we didn't finish." Gabriella replied.

Taylor's jaw dropped, "you're going to Troy Bolton's house! Oh yeah and I'm not surprised you guys didn't finish, he was probably going on and on about making touchdowns and bouncing the ball."

"First of all, it's making baskets and dribbling the ball and going to his house isn't a big deal." She said giggling.

"Whatever, if you wanna get all technical. You have to call me right after you leave his house! I gotta go to second period so I'll see you at lunch or something, bye!" Taylor said while running off.

Gabriella grinned, "Bye Tay!"

Gabriella pulled up to Troy's driveway and just sat there. She was trying to stall because she was too scared to see him again. She still felt bad about what happened between them all that time ago. After what happened she regretted telling him she never wanted to see him again, because it was too harsh. But she was too scared to try and apologize or talk to him and her childish insecurities made her think he wouldn't want to be her friend again anyways.

She got out of the car and walked up to the front door. She rang the doorbell and waited. She could feel the suspense building up in the pit of her stomach, until she heard approaching footsteps.

The door swang open, "Hi may I help y- ….Gabriella?"

"Hi Mrs. Bolton. It's me." She replied looking a little nervous.

"Oh my gosh! Gabriella! Where have you been? I haven't seen you since…since I don't know, but it's been long! Come in, come in!" The middle aged woman said with much enthusiasm.

Gabriella smiled. It was nice to see Troy's mom again, they were so close back then. "Thanks Mrs. Bolton."

"I badgered Troy for so long to invite you over. But after a while, he didn't budge, so I gave up." Mrs. Bolton said with a disappointed look in her eyes.

"Yeah, we just sort of went our separate ways. Our homeroom teacher paired us together for an assignment and so that's why I'm here, we didn't get to finish it in class." Gabriella replied.

"I really missed you around here, and I could tell Troy definitely missed you too. He was so quiet at dinner and he spent most of his time in his room, he just wasn't the same until he joined the basketball team. After that I could tell he was happier." Mrs. Bolton said.

Gabriella thought about it. _Did it really make him that sad that they weren't friends anymore? _She felt a mixture of guilt and sorrow rush through her.

"Are you okay sweetheart?" Mrs. Bolton said, snapping Gabriella out of her daze.

"Um yeah, so where's Troy anyways?" Asked Gabriella.

"He's outside playing basketball, you should go before I hold you up any longer honey." Troy's mom said while pointing to the back door leading to their basketball court.

"Okay, bye it was really nice seeing you again!" Gabriella replied with a giggle.

"Same here sweetie, ba-bye." Mrs. Bolton said before walking out of the kitchen.

Gabriella walked towards the back door and looked through the glass. Troy was outside, shirtless, shooting hoops. _Oh my- he has definitely changed_, she thought. Gabriella opened the door and starting walking towards Troy, her eyes couldn't move from his body. He was so masculine, and even though he was so sweaty, she didn't feel any less attracted to him.

"Uh hey Troy." Gabriella finally spoke up.

Troy jumped in shock, "whoa you scared me, I though you weren't coming until five."

Gabriella lifted her eyes to his face, finally, "Um... it is five."

"Really? Shit, sorry. I lost track of time. Come on, let's go inside." He said with an ashamed look on his face.

_Great way to start off Troy! _He thought while grabbing his shirt from the floor and holding the door open for Gabriella.

"Come on, we can work in my room." Troy, like a gentleman, motioned for Gabriella to go up the stairs first. She nervously stepped in front of him, but as she rushed up the stairs, her foot got caught.

She tripped on a step and went falling back. She braced herself for the fall but when she didn't feel herself hit a hard surface, she opened her eyes to see Troy. His arms were around her waist tightly and she could feel his heart pounding. She noticed that he was still shirtless and her face turned red.

"Y..you caught me." She said hesitantly.

"You're still a clutz I see." He said with a smirk while looking into her eyes.

He lifted her up and smiled awkwardly, "come on Gabs, we better hurry."

And at that she froze in place, "what did you call me?"

"Oh sorry..I um.. I forgot." He replied.

"Oh it's okay." She said and then walked into Troy's room. She noted that it was a lot different. There were pictures everywhere, basketball pictures and lots of pictures of him and his friends.

"Do you mind if I have a quick shower. I don't think it would be fair for me to work with you for a few hours smelling like this." He said with a laugh.

"You don't smell bad." She replied quickly, but then felt herself blush, "I mean, go ahead and take a shower if you want, I don't mind."

Most people would actually think Troy smelt disgusting, but she weirdly liked it when she could see the tiny sweat droplets on his nicely toned body, the smell was worth it.

Troy went into the bathroom and Gabriella heard the shower turn on. She took the time she had to look around. She went to his desk. There were papers scattered everywhere, she could tell he was a hard worker. She saw a board with pictures all over it, he looked so happy, and she was glad he was happy.

She turned to his bed side table and there were two picture frames, one picture was of Troy and his parents, but she couldn't tell what the other picture was because it was kind of behind the other one. She moved the other one aside and the second picture was of her and Troy. A wide grin spread across her face. The picture was taken over two years ago. In the picture, Gabriella was on Troy's back with her arms out smiling so wide and Troy also had the widest grin on his face. She started laughing, because she started to remember that night. They were at an amusement park.

_**Flashback******_

"_Gabs, if you eat any more cotton candy you're gonna puke." Troy stated with a smile._

"_I can't help it. I haven't had cotton candy this good in forever! Want some?" She asked._

"_Nah, I'm good thanks. Hey I'm gonna buy a disposable camera. Let's take pictures." Troy said while running up to a nearby gift shop._

"_Sounds good." She said with a giggle, following him inside._

"_Okay let's go somewhere where there are not a lot of people." He grabbed her hand and pulled her to a clearing near the gift shop, "here's good." Troy said while looking around. "Pose Gabs!"_

_Troy took numerous pictures of Gabriella making funny faces and some just smiling and eating her cotton candy._

"_Your turn!" Gabriella said as she took the camera from Troy. Troy refused, covering his face and claiming that he wasn't nearly as photogenic as Gabriella. Troy took back the camera, sticking his tongue out at his best friend._

_"Let's take one together!" Troy walked up to a man who worked at the gift shop, "hey dude, would you mind taking a picture of us?"_

"_Uh sure..." The man said as he took the camera, "young love."  
_

"_Oh no, were just friends." Gabriella said as she began to blush._

"_Ready?" The man asked._

"_Gabs, get on my back." Troy said while crouching so she could jump on._

_Gabriella threw out the stick to the cotton candy and jumped on Troy's back._

_The man taking the picture smiled then held up the camera to take the picture. "Three, two, one."_

_**End of flashback******_

Gabriella took the picture and sat on Troy's bed. She just looked at it and kept laughing randomly.

Troy walked out of the bathroom, his hair was wet and he was wearing a white v neck t-shirt and jeans. He saw her on the bed smiling to herself while looking at the picture.

"Gabriella?"

"Oh sorry, I didn't see you standing there." She said while quickly placing the picture back on the bed side table.

"You remember that day?" Troy asked while gesturing to the picture.

"Mmhm, that was so fun. I remember the next day you came over with a bucket of cotton candy for me." Gabriella replied as she giggled.

"Oh yeah, you grabbed it out of my hand so fast." Troy said as he sat down next to Gabriella on the bed and started laughing.

"Those were good times. We have lots of great memories." Gabriella said while looking up at Troy.

"Yeah we had some good times. But anyways do you have the scene for the assignment?"

"Uh..yeah they're in my bag." Gabriella stood up and took out the paper and laid it on the floor and layed on her stomach while holding her head up with her hand.

Troy looked down at her, smiled, and then joined her on the floor.

An hour passed and they finished the first part of the assignment that was due tomorrow.

"Finally were done, my head was starting to hurt. Too much thinking." Troy said while getting up and stretching.

"Yeah, I should go now." Gabriella said while also getting up.

"No! Uh...um I mean, you shouldn't leave so soon. After hard work, you always gotta do something fun afterwards right?" He said with persuasion in his beautiful blue eyes.

"Um okay but what do you wanna do?" Gabriella replied, looking into his eyes and just couldn't resist.

"We could watch a movie downstairs, my mom isn't here to bother us." Troy said.

_Watch a movie with Troy, the last time we did that was when we were 15,_ Gabriella thought to herself.

"Sure." She replied and at that they both made their way to and down the stairs.

They both sat down on the couch, he could feel her skin on his. It was so soft, he had a strange urge to just put his arms around her waist like he had when he caught her when she was about to fall down the stairs. He loved that feeling. But he resisted and just played the movie.

An hour passed and Troy felt Gabriella move closer to him. He looked at her to see that she was asleep. She snuggled her head into his chest and he saw her smile in her sleep.

He smiled and put his arm around her so his hand was resting on her waist. He turned down the volume and felt himself get tired too. He yawned and then closed his eyes just for a brief moment.

An hour and a half passed and Troy's mom came home to find Troy and Gabriella cuddled up on the couch.

"Troy, Gabriella. Guys wake up it 8:30." Mrs. Bolton whispered as she shook their shoulders to wake them up. They both opened their eyes and looked at each other and smiled. After a few seconds they realized how close they were and they both jumped up at the same time, Troys face turned bright red and Gabriella could feel herself blushing too.

"Oh sorry mom, we were watching a movie and we must have fallen asleep." Troy said before yawning.

"Yeah sorry Mrs. Bolton." Gabriella said with an embarrassed smile.

"No need to apologize and please, nothings changed Gabriella, call me Lucille." Mrs. Bolton said with a smile.

"Alright Lucille, thanks for everything. I better go before my mom freaks out, I told her I'd be home an hour ago." Gabriella said as she grabbed her bag and smiled at Troy for a few seconds, "Bye Troy, see you tomorrow. Bye Mrs. Bol-I mean, Lucille."

"Good girl. Don't leave so soon, I want a hug young lady." Troy's mom smiled as she opened her arms for the girl who was always like a daughter to her.

Gabriella gave her a warm hug and smiled at Troy once more and left.

"I knew it!" Mrs. Bolton said as soon as Gabriella left.

"Knew what mom?" Troy replied looking confused.

"I knew you two would end up together eventually." She said while walking into the kitchen.

Troy followed her in. "What? Were not _together_ mom. We just fell asleep by accident."

"I see the way you guys look at each other, that's the way me and your father used to look at each other. You don't know it now but you and her will both see, that you two are meant for each other." Troy's mom said while rolling her eyes and whispering under her breath,_ "their so oblivious, they don't even see it."_

"Whatever you say mom but it's not like that." Troy replied and then started thinking,_ I wish it was though._

**REVIEW PLEASE!**


	4. Matt

**Finally, chapter cuatro:)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical! Or Romeo and Juliet!**

**Chapter 4- Matt**

The next day at school, Gabriella was so jumpy and excited. All she could think about was seeing Troy again...and actually talking to him. She walked to her locker with Taylor by her side babbling on about how Gabriella's so lucky to have gone to Troy Bolton's house. Gabriella wanted to tell Taylor so badly about how her and Troy had history, but she strangely felt like it was kind of a secret between her and him, and anything between her and Troy, she wanted to keep there.

"Gabi, are you listening?" Taylor snapped.

"Wh..what did you say?" Gabriella replied in a hurry, trying to act innocent.

"You were daydreaming again weren't you? You've been all loopy and happy from the moment I saw you. It's because of Troy isn't it!" Taylor spat out with a look of accomplishment.

"N..no! I'm just in a good mood that's all. I'm allowed to be in good moods." Gabriella said as her cheeks flushed to red.

"Okay, okay. I gotta go to my locker, I'll see you in first period." Taylor said with a smirk on her face.

"Okay. Bye." Gabriella replied.

As soon as Taylor was out of her sight, she opened her locker quickly and grabbed her stuff for English and speed walked to the classroom. Every step closer, she grew more anxious to see him. And then she stopped. _Why am I feeling this way? Why am I obsessing over...him. Just calm down Gabriella. Calm down._ She thought.

Gabriella walked into the class to see his desk empty. A wave of disappointment flew through her. She went to her desk beside Troy's and sat down. The late bell rung and five seconds later she heard fast footsteps outside the classroom and then she saw Troy skid through the door.

"I'm sorry I'm late Miss Darbus, I slept in." Troy said, then immediately turned his head. He smiled when his eyes landed on Gabriella, who now had a wide grin on her face. He took his seat beside her and waited for Miss Darbus to reply.

"Alright Mr. Bolton, just don't let it happen again." The teacher said while looking down at some paperwork she had on her desk.

"Good morning class, I except everyone...well every group to have the first paragraph of their reports. Just give me a moment and then you will line up to turn them in." Miss Darbus said, still looking down at her papers.

Troy looked at Gabriella who was still smiling to herself, trying not to let him see.

"Hey Gab-..Gabriella. Sleep well?" He said with an embarrassed smile. He was about to call her Gabs.

"Good morning Troy. Yeah I slept okay. How about you?" Gabriella replied looking disappointed that he didn't call her by the much missed nickname.

"I slept okay too. We have to work on the report again today right? Miss Darbus said she's going to give us a week of class time. I don't know why though, it's just one report." Troy said.

"I know right." She said, not being able to look away from his eyes. They were like big blue oceans with the sunset shining on them.

Miss Darbus stood up and walked to the front of the class, "I'm adding on to your assignment. Don't worry though, it won't be that hard." She said with a smirk on her face. It was like fate.

Both Troy and Gabriella's faces lit up. They were thinking the same thing; they will have more time to spend together.

"In addition to the report, I want you and your partner to watch the movie and write a review on it. Also, make a packet about the different characters in the play, and their resemblances and relationships." Miss Darbus smiled at the class then passed out a piece of paper about the new assignments. "Have fun." She said and then went back to her desk to get back to her paperwork.

"Oh wow, this is a lot more than I expected." Gabriella said while glancing at the new piece of paper in front of her.

"Yeah but it is Miss Darbus." Troy said while shaking his head.

"Well we should start. We should finish the report before we start on the other stuff, we only have a few more paragraphs." Gabriella said as she pulled out some lined paper.

"Okay, I'll go turn in the first paragraph to Miss Darbus real quick and then we'll start." Troy said as he stood up.

Class was almost over and Troy and Gabriella still had one more paragraph to write in the report, they felt relieved. Until they both remembered they still had all the other stuff. But even though they were frustrated about all the work, they were happy they got to do it together, neither one of them would admit it, of course. Troy put his pencil down and as Gabriella saw him, she did so too.

"You know how we were wondering why Miss Darbus gave us a whole week to finish just the report?" Troy said.

"Yeah." Gabriella replied.

"Now I wish she gave us more time." Troy said with a smile.

The bell rang and everyone got snapped out of thinking about _Romeo and Juliet_ and started thinking about getting the hell out of this classroom before Miss Darbus adds on to their work. At that, everyone sped out of the room and to their second period.

Second period had passed and Gabriella was putting her stuff away in her locker to go to lunch when Troy came and leaned next to the locker beside hers.

"Hi." Gabriella said as her face lit up because of his sudden presence.

"Hey, I w..was wondering if you would come and have lu..lunch with me and my friends today. You can bring your friends if you want." Troy said nervously.

Gabriella wanted to say yes so badly, "yeah sure…but wouldn't your friends be kind of….curious."

"Yeah, but I'll just tell them the truth. You're my…you're my friend." He replied hesitantly.

"Were friends again!" She mentally kicked herself, "uhh….um I mean, cool." She said as her face turned as red as a cherry. Even though she was ecstatic that they were_ friends_ again, she still had this weird feeling in her stomach, like she wanted him to say something else besides _friends. _

They walked to the cafeteria together. Gabriella ran over to her usual table, "hey guys, come on, Troy invited me to sit with him and his friends!"

Gabriella's closest friends Taylor, Kelsi and Martha looked shocked, "why do you want us to come with you?" Kelsi said still in shock.

"Because he said I could bring my friends and I'd feel so awkward there by myself. Please." Gabriella said with a puppy dog face.

"Ugh okay, but you owe us." Martha said as she got up.

Taylor smiled, "I don't know why you guys don't want to go." Taylor said as she got up also.

"Tay, you're just saying that because your excited to go see Chad." Gabriella said with a smirk.

"Am not, I just think it would be cool, that's all." Taylor argued.

Gabriella, Taylor, Kelsi, and Martha arrived at the table where Troy, Chad and other guys on the basketball team like Jason and Zeke were sitting.

"Hey." Gabriella said to get Troy's attention.

Troy immediately put his soda down and said, "hey guys, sit down."

Gabriella sat down next to Troy as the other girls just stood there.

"Guys sit down." Gabriella said looking confused.

Taylor went and sat beside Chad, "hey Chad."

"Hey Taylor what's up?" Chad replied, as if he was as happy as Taylor was that she was here.

Martha and Kelsi sat down awkwardly and starting nibbling on their lunch. Jason and Zeke saw their awkwardness and tried to talk to them. The girls started to loosen up as they got into a heated conversation about how Miss Darbus looks up at nothing all the time when she's talking about _Romeo and Juliet_ as if she's picturing the play.

"So I was wondering if you wanted to get together today again to work on the project more." Troy said to Gabriella, breaking the silence.

"Sure, my house or yours?" Gabriella responded, holding back the urge to get up and jump up and down in merriment.

"Doesn't matter, wherever works." Troy replied

"How about my house, ever since I told my mom about going to your house yesterday, she hasn't stopped annoying me about having you come here so she can apparently see how handsome you got." Gabriella said with a giggle.

"She'll be disappointed then." Troy said as he began to laugh.

Gabriella burst out in laughter. Everyone at the table turned to look at her.

"What's so funny?" Troy said as he motioned for everyone to get back to their conversations.

"Nothing..nothing." She replied while starting to blush.

"Tell me, now I'm curious." Troy said as he nudged her shoulder.

"Well, it's just that you said that my mom will be disappointed when she sees you. Trust me, she will be shocked, and definitely not disappointed." Gabriella said.

Troy looked confused, "what do you mean?"

"You're gorgeous!" Gabriella blurted out and then she realized what she just said and regretted it. Her face turned bright red and she turned to glance at Troy for a second to see he was blushing too.

"I m..mean, oh cra-" and she was cut off by strands of blonde hair flying in her face. She pushed aside the hair and saw that it was Sharpay Evans who had just squished herself in between her and Troy. But of course her back was to Gabriella.

"Hi Troy! What are _they_ doing here?" Sharpay said as she gestured toward Gabriella and her friends.

"They're here because I invited them, Sharpay." Troy said with annoyance.

"Oh." Sharpay said and at that, the bell rang. Everyone got up and Chad said, "you guys should come and sit with us again. See you later." Chad and the other guys walked out of the cafeteria and so did the other girls.

Troy brushed past Sharpay and looked at Gabriella, "So I'll see you later today, around five, I won't forget again." Troy said with a smile.

"Yeah, five." Gabriella said, kind of relieved Sharpay had come when she did, because she broke the awkward moment between her and Troy. Gabriella walked out of the lunchroom and kept saying to herself over and over, _your gorgeous, your gorgeous, what were you thinking Gabriella!_

Troy walked up to Gabriella's front door and rang the doorbell. He waited a few seconds and then heard running footsteps approach.

"Hey Troy, come in." Gabriella said as she held the door open for him.

"Gabriella! Is that Troy! Bring him to the kitchen!" Troy immediately knew that was Gabriella's mom.

They walked into the kitchen and saw Miss Montez wearing an apron, mixing something in a large bowl.

"Troy! Sweetheart, come here, give me a hug!" Gabriella's mom said as she wiped her hands on a towel and ran over to Troy.

"Hey Miss Montez, how yah been?" Troy replied.

"I've been fine..oh wow, look at you, you really grew up! You were right Gabi, he is handsome!" Miss Montez said as she scanned him from head to toe.

"Mom." Gabriella whispered and looked down when she realized she was blushing.

Troy laughed, "I'm captain of the basketball team, I have to be handsome."

Gabriella looked up, relieved that he joked about it and broke the tension.

"Mom, stop smothering him, we have to get to work." Gabriella said as she pulled Troy's arm.

"Oh yeah, that Romeo and Juliet thing right, I have the movie if you guys want it."

"You have it! We need to watch it for our project too and then write a review. Troy, do you want to watch the movie after we finish the report to get it over with, but this time we can't fall asleep." Gabriella said.

"Yeah, sounds good." Troy replied.

"Well I'm making an amazing dinner, specialty for Troy!" Miss Montez said as she walked back towards the stove.

"Okay mom." "Thanks Miss Montez." Gabriella and Troy both said as Gabriella pulled Troy towards the stairs. It was so easy to be comfortable with each other, they had practice all those years ago.

They scattered the papers on the bed and sat down. A half an hour passed and Gabriella stood up, "finally, were done! Well, with that at least."

"Oh yeah." Troy replied as he got up to stretch. "So you wanna watch the movie now Gabs. I mean Gabriella. Sorry." Troy said as he sat back on the bed and stuck all the final papers in a folder.

"Troy, I need to tell you something." Gabriella said as she sat on the bed next to him and looked down at her fingers.

"What?" Troy replied.

"I told everyone not to call me Gabs because it made me mad." Gabriella said nervously.

"Yeah I know." Troy said with confusion.

"No, you don't get it. I didn't want them to call me that, because you always did. It was your special name. I want you to call me that, I just don't want anyone else to." She explained.

Troy didn't say anything. A few seconds passed and he finally spoke, "thanks."

"For what?" Gabriella replied with a confused look in her eyes.

"For not letting anyone else have my special name for you." He said with a smile.

"I've really missed yah Troy. I didn't really mean it when I said I never wanted to see you again and blah blah blah. I was just mad." She confessed.

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Troy said, scooching closer to Gabriella.

"Because I thought you wouldn't forgive me." She said.

"Well I do. And I wasn't mad at you for saying yes to Matt. I was mad AT matt. So I took out my anger on you." Troy said with an ashamed look.

"Why were you mad at him?" Gabriella asked.

"Because I thought he would hurt you, and I was sorta jealous." Troy said with a smile.

"Oh….if it makes you feel any better, my date with Matt...it was terrible. All I could think was, _Troy was right, I should have listened to Troy." _

_**Flashback******_

_"Wow Gabriella, you look hot as usual." Matt said as he opened the restaurant door for her._

_"Uhh thanks." She replied as she blushed._

_They walked over to an empty table, "hello, can we get some service!" Matt yells and everyone around them stares at him. "Matt, relax, someone will come." Gabriella said as she put her hand over her face in embarrassment._

_The waiter walked over, "hello, welcome, what would you like to have tonight? Shall we start with drinks?"_

_"No we shall not start with drinks. We've been waiting and we're hungry, I'll have a bacon cheeseburger with extra fries and a coke." Matt said rudely._

_"I'm sorry, I'll have a ceasar salad with a water. Thank you." Gabriella said smiling._

_"Matt, we just got here, don't you think that was kind of rude?" Gabriella said to Matt._

_"Whatever…anyways, I've been wanting to ask you. Who was that assface you were with when I asked you out?" Matt asked changing the subject._

_"He's not an __assface__, hes my…was my best friend." Gabriella said with a sad look on her face._

_"Whatever, he gave me an attitude. I could kick his face in if you'd like." Matt said with an evil smile on his face._

_"NO! Just leave him alone, he's not bothering me, you probably won't see him around me for awhile." Gabriella said with potential tears in her eyes._

_"Oh good. What is taking so long! We've been waiting for like 10 minutes! Come on baby, let's get outta here." Matt snapped as he got up._

_"Wha- Matt!." Gabriella got up and followed Matt out, whispering to everybody and the waiter, "I'm so sorry."_

_They arrived at Matt's house and Gabriella looked up in confusion, "where are we? I thought you were taking me home."_

_Matt smiled at her, "we haven't even had fun though. This is my house, why don't you come inside for awhile and then I'll take you home in the morning?"_

_"The morning? What? Why would I stay til the mo-…wait a second. You pervert! Take me home right now! We've just been out once, well if you wanna call that…out. I can't believe it. Troy was right!" Gabriella said furiously._

_"Chill out baby. Sorry but I'm not doing anything for you unless you do something for me." Matt said with smirk._

_"Fine….I'll do something. I'll walk!" Gabriella said as she opened the car door and started running towards the way to her house._

_After walking for 10 minutes in the dark, by herself, she took her phone out of her bag. She went through the contacts to see who she could call for help. She saw Troy's number and paused at it and was about to press send when a voice inside her head stopped her,__ you're going to call him and ask for help when he tried to tell you not to go out with Matt in the first place and you just told him you never wanted to see him again. Yeah right, he's never going to talk to you again. All he's going to say is "I told you so, I told you so." __And at that Gabriella burst out in tears. She knelt down on her knees and just wept for a few minutes and then picked up her phone again and decided to just call her mom._

_**End of flashback******_

Gabriella looked up at Troy, "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you."

"I'm sorry I called you a slut." He said and then leaned over and gave her a warm, gentle hug.

When Gabriella realized what he was doing, she immediately wrapped her arms around him.

"I've missed you Gabs." He whispered in her brown, curly hair.

"I've missed you too Bolton."

**Aww that chapter was so fun to write! I'll try and post chapter five as soon as possible! Review!**


	5. Finally

**Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving on Sunday, which is in 3 days, with my friend for a week, so the story won't be updated until I get back. But I'll try and put up another chapter after this one so you guys won't be too anxious to know what happens next! Thanks for reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own HSM.**

**Chapter 5- Finally**

It's been about two weeks, Troy and Gabriella have been spending a lot of time together now that they're friends again and not just for the project, they were one of the rare amount of groups that got a perfect score on the project. The more time they spent together, the more they realized how much they missed out on, after their big argument two years ago. But now, they were both determined to make up for the lost time. Both of them tried so hard not to show the other person how they really felt, that they wanted to be more than friends, but they didn't want to ruin everything they had now.

Troy opened the main door of East High for Gabriella, "so Gabs are you coming to the game tonight?"

"Do you want me to come?" She asked with a hopeful smile.

"Yeah…I do. You've never come to a basketball game before have you?" He said as his face turned a shade of red.

"No, but they seem fun..so I'll be there tonight, cheering for you." She said as she walked up to her locker and opened it noticing Troy's face light up with a wide grin.

"Thanks, I'm excited to whoop some ass tonight! Evergreen High sucks, it won't be hard." He said with confidence.

"I'm gonna laugh when THEY do the ass whooping." She said as she started to giggle and saw Troy's smile drop. "I was joking Bolton."

"Right. Well I'll see you in homeroom Scabby Gabby." He said while sticking his tongue out at her.

"Where did you get that from! I'm not even scabby, that's so gross Troy!" She said.

Troy broke out in laughter as he left towards his locker.

* * *

An hour of English passed and Miss Darbus was still going on about how performing arts is the masterpiece of all arts. The only one paying attention was Sharpay and Ryan because they've been in almost all the school's productions.

"Hey, Troyzie Woizie, can I borrow a pencil?" Gabriella whispered as she saw Troy's mouth drop.

"Have you been talking to my mother?" Troy replied in a loud whisper.

"Actually, yes she told me about that name a while ago when we were like 14, I never thought of using it against you…until now." Gabriella said as she played with her eraser innocently.

"Just wait Gabs, I'll get you back." Troy said with a mischievous smile.

Miss Darbus turned to look at them, smiling at each other weirdly, and she stood up from her desk, "Bolton! Montez! Stop making googley eyes at each other and pay attention!"

The whole class turned to see both of them slump in their chairs. Both of their faces were turning red with embarrassment.

The bell rung and Taylor immediately ran up to Gabriella, "Gabriella Montez, I'm hurt."

"What? What I do?" Gabi replied confused.

"You didn't tell me that you and Troy the basketball boy were so close…so close that Miss Darbus had to stop you guys from flirting in the middle of class." Taylor replied with a smile.

"W..we weren't flirting. We were just talking because we were bored." Gabriella replied.

"Mmhmm whatever you say. I gotta go to spanish, see yah later chica!" Taylor said as she walked away.

The day went by fast and all Gabriella could think of was Troy. She strangely liked it when Taylor said, _you and Troy._ But she decided to wait awhile before trying to see if he felt the same way.

Gabriella drove home swiftly so she could get ready for the game. She wanted to look nice, after all,_ Troy_ invited her. She quickly had a shower and dried her hair, standing in front of the mirror trying out different outfits to find the perfect one. She found this white, casual summer dress near the back of her closet, she put it on and decided it would work. She put on simple black flip flops and then she stood their longer than 15 minutes trying to figure out what to do with her hair. She put her top layer up and let the rest just lay on her shoulders. There were a few stray curls, but Troy always said he liked it like that. She said bye to her mom and skipped to the car.

"Hey Troy, you seem nervous, your never nervous before a game." Zeke Baylor said curiously.

"Troy's nervous because his girlfriends coming tonight." Chad said trying to mock Troy.

"She's not my girlfriend! I'm fine. Focus on the game, we gotta win this one!" Troy snapped.

"Whatever you say Captain." Chad said as he and the other guys started laughing.

"Thanks for coming with me Tay, It'll be fun, plus you'll get to see your lover boy." Gabriella said as she nudged Taylors shoulder.

"He's not my lover boy, he's just fun to talk to." Taylor replied as she blushed.

"Uh huh. Come on, we better hurry to get good seats." Gabi said as they ran into East High with their arms locked together.

They walked in and sat down. They could hear the announcer rambling on for everyone to take their seats. A big banner with a wildcat on it was held up by the cheerleaders and the lights dimmed. The team started their way out, with Troy in lead as the announcer stated their names one by one. The cheerleaders made their way to their positions and started their routines as the lights were brightened again and everyone started cheering. The team started making practice shots as the crowd yelled stuff like, "Go East High!"

Troy saw Gabriella and smiled at her and she returned it with a, "Win it Wildcats!" She could see him laugh as he returned to making practice shots. The whistle blowed and the players took off their jackets and prepared themselves to play. Gabriella watched as the team put their hands together and yelled, "Gooooo Wildcats!" And the game began.

Gabriella watched Troy in awe as he made numerous baskets. Gabriella turned over to Taylor who was only interested in watching Chad, but she couldn't blame her, she was only interested in watching Troy too. "Go Troy!" Gabriella yelled every now and then.

There was only fourteen seconds left on the clock and East High was already ahead by four points. Right before the buzzer rang, Troy swished the ball in to make the score twenty-two to twenty-eight.

The whole crowd jumped up except for Gabriella and Taylor who didn't really know they had to. A whole crowd of people swarmed the team. "Come on Tay, let's go congratulate them!"

"Great shot at the buzzer Troy!" Yelled Chad's dad, Mr. Danforth.

"Thanks Mr. Danforth." Troy replied.

Everyone crowded around Troy to congratulate him. When Troy turned around, one of the cheerleaders, jumped on Troy and he, on reflex, caught her.

"Hey baby, nice game." She said as she locked her lips with his forcibly.

Troy pulled away and put her down, "I'm sorry but I'm not interest-" and Troy was cut off when he saw Gabriella standing there trying to hold back tears.

"Gabriella it's not what it loo-" and he was cut off again, "Troy, it's okay, you should go back to her, I gotta go, but great game." She said as she ran through the crowd away from him. She made it to the parking lot when Taylor came running after her, "Gabi, what's wrong, why are you crying?"

"It's nothing, I'm fine. I just want to go home." She said as she began to walk to the car, "It's nothing."

* * *

The next day at school, Gabriella didn't show up.

"Hey Taylor, do you know where Gabriella is?" Troy asked anxiously. "I called her like fifty times last night but she wouldn't pick up. I don't know why."

"She said she was _sick_. Wow, Troy. You're so oblivious." Taylor replied rolling her eyes.

"Oblivious..oblivious to what?" Troy asked.

"She saw you kiss that slut at the game last night." Taylor said.

"She jumped ME and kissed ME by surprise. I hardly even know her and w..why would Gabriella care anyway?" He asked hesitantly, thinking maybe it was because she felt the same way about him as he did her, and then getting sad, realizing that if she did, she probably didn't feel that way anymore after last night.

"Men. Their so stupid." Taylor said as she packed her stuff because the bell was about to ring.

"Hey! I resent that." Chad replied with a pouty face.

The bell rang and the class filed out.

Gabriella lay on her bed looking up at the ceiling. Her thoughts clouding her mind, _why_ _do I care so much anyway! He's kissed other girls before! I can't believe I'm getting so jealous over some tramp kissing him. He would have told me if he was dating someone…right? Maybe it was just a onetime thing with her...OH MY GOSH, HE'S A PLAYER! No, no. Troy is not like that, I shouldn't assume things. Oh god, what have I gotten myself into! Being friends…again with the captain of the basketball team! Jocks are all the same, even though I wanted to believe they weren't. Just because he's a jock now, it doesn't change who he is and who he was when we were younger. There are probably millions of girls who are in love with Troy Bo-._

And she stopped their and sat up, "in love?" She repeated to herself. _I can't be in love with him, I've only known him_…._over three years. Holy shit! I'm in love with Troy Bolton! The friggin basketball boy_. "Uh oh." Was all that could come out of her mouth.

* * *

The next day, Gabriella got up for school, and realized she had to make it seem like she didn't care about Troy kissing someone else, even though she did! She put on an outfit that stood for: I'm actually trying to look nice, and not look like a bum because I'm sad about something.

She walked into school nervously and saw Taylor immediately running up to her. "Oh my gosh Gabi, you're here! Where were you yesterday? Were you really sick? Or did you not go because of Troy? Did you cry? What did you do all day? You're gonna have to make up your assignments."

"Taylor, can you stop asking me so many questions please. I'm fine, why would I care about Troy? We're just friends." Gabriella said calmly.

"Okay. I'm not buying it. Spill." Taylor said as she pulled Gabriella into the girl's bathroom and locked the door.

"Tay, were gonna get in trouble, you're not supposed to lock that." Gabriella said, trying to change the subject.

"Stop trying to change the subject!" Taylor snapped. _Damn. She's good_, Gabriella thought. "Okay, I guess I'll just ask some more questions then." Taylor said mischeviously. "What did your mom say about you staying home? Did she call the school? How many times did Troy call you? Did he leave a voice mail every time, or just a couple times? Did you cou-"

"I LOVE HIM!" Gabriella said as she cut off her friend.

Taylor just stood there, with her mouth wide open, "now would be a good time to say something. How can someone go from not shutting up to completely silent?" Gabriella said as she waved her hand in front of Taylor's face.

"Wow. I could ask you the same question. Except you went from silent to an_ I love him_._"_ Taylor finally said. "Are you sure? How do you know?"

"A person knows Tay. I get this funny feeling whenever I'm around him. I get chills whenever he touches my skin. My face never doesn't turn red when I'm with him. He's the only one who can make me laugh the way I haven't laughed since our argument two years ago. And I can't help but think about him, all the time. I know it's cheesy. But I can't help it." Gabriella confessed as she sat down against the wall.

"Holy-" and Taylor was cut off by the late bell.

"Oh crap were late! Come on!" Gabriella said as she pushed Taylor out of the bathroom because she was frozen.

Gabriella and Taylor ran into the classroom. The whole class turned to stare at them. Troy's eyes locked to Gabriella's in an instant.

"Well well, look who decided to join our class today. Miss Montez, Miss McKessie, go to your seats." Miss Darbus said as she turned back around to write something on the board.

As Gabriella sat down, Troy couldn't think of what to say, all he could do was tap his pencil on his desk.

"Where were you yesterday? I got worried." Troy said to break the silence.

"I..I was sick." Gabriella replied, lying.

"No you weren't Gabs, what's wrong?" Troy said as he leaned closer to her to show her he really cared.

"I don't know Troy! Figure it out!" She snapped as she pretended to pay attention to the teacher.

* * *

Second period flew by, Gabriella was about to go to lunch when she decided she didn't want to face everyone asking her all these annoying questions. She thought about where to go and then she remembered where she and Troy used to go when they were younger. Freshman year, Troy and Gabriella found this garden on the roof of the school that they used to go to all the time during lunch to just get away and talk. Gabriella didn't even bother to bring any food 'cause she wasn't hungry. She climbed the stairs and saw the beautiful garden once again. It was still the same except there were some more flowers and it seemed bigger to her. She sat on the bench and just looked out at the view.

"Hey guys, do you know where Gabi is? We need to talk." Troy asked Gabriella's friends Taylor, Kelsi, and Martha.

"Nope, I saw her after first period and then that's it." Taylor replied. "Same." Replied Kelsi and Martha.

Troy sat down next to Chad and thought, _where would she go, to be alone?_

Gabriella got up and started smelling the variety of flowers. They smelled so wonderful, and they helped her to just relax.

"Gabs." A voice from behind her said.

She jumped away from the flowers accidentally plucking out a purple flower.

"Troy." And then she looked down at the flower in her hand, "oops."

Troy laughed, "what are you doing up here, we only came up here when there was something wrong."

Gabriella tried to change the subject, "poor flower, I blame you!" She said as she gestured to Troy.

"You've been avoiding me all day, you didn't answer my calls, you snapped at me this morning. What's wrong?" He said, moving a step closer.

"Nothing was wrong until now. Now the pretty purple flower is dead." She said while looking down at the flower.

"You're a really bad liar! Stop trying to change the subject Gabriella." Troy said getting frustrated.

"I wouldn't have to lie if it weren't for you!" Gabriella snapped.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Troy snapped back.

"I wouldn't have had to lie and pretend everything was okay if you hadn't have kissed that slut at the game!" She said as she squished the flower in her hand.

"She jumped me and forcibly kissed me! I don't even know her name! Why do you care anyways!" He yelled as he took another step.

"BECAUSE I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU!" As soon as she said it, her eyes widended and she turned around, embarrassed. "I..I'm so..rry. I shouldn..shouldnt have said-" she was cut off.

Troy pulled her arm and she swung back around so she was facing him. She only got a one second glimpse of his baby blue eyes before she felt his lips crushing down on hers.

She immediately loosened her hands and the squished flower fell to the floor. Troy pulled her waist so they had no space between them and she slowly felt her hands move around his neck. She could feel chills running up and down her spine with his warm, masculine body against hers. She loved how his lips felt on hers, and she never wanted it to stop. A few seconds later they pulled apart for breath and as soon as she could breathe even, she looked up at him. He was starring down at her with a smile.

"By the way, I love you too." Troy whispered into her hair. "Scabby Gabby."

REVIEW PLEASE:)


	6. The Party

**I'm excited to write this next chapter, but I'm in kind of a hurry so sorry if there are typos or it disappoints!**

**Chapter 6- The Party**

Gabriella woke up early the next morning, giggly and excited. She kept replaying Troy's words in her head, "By the way, I love you too." Wow, she never expected to hear him say he loves her back. After their surprising kiss on the roof of the school, they both hardly talked. They just sat in their classes, smiling to themselves, thinking. Taylor tried snapping Gabriella out of it but Gabriella simply said, "I'll tell you about it tomorrow." Taylor was confused, but she didn't push the matter any further. Chad and the other guys on the team all noticed Troy's sudden happiness at basketball practice, but they didn't say anything about it either. Troy and Gabriella spent about two and a half hours last night on the phone. Gabriella knew she loved him, it just felt right.

She got out of bed and started getting ready for school. This was the day she would tell her best friend and the school would most likely find out about her and Troy, and if she would have all those eyes on her, she wanted to look nice, even if the attention made her a little apprehensive. She put on a pair of jean shorts with a v-neck t shirt and white, open toed heals and just let her curls lay loose. She grabbed her bag and skipped down the stairs in merriment and a wide grin spread across her face when she saw Troy sitting on a stool in the kitchen, while her mom made breakfast. Her smile dropped when she got a weird feeling of déjà vu. This was how it was the morning her and Troy got in the fight that ruined their friendship two years ago. She shook off the feeling of fear and guilt that ran through her and spoke up.

"T..Troy." She said hesitantly.

"Morning Gabs, I was just wondering if you wanted a ride to school?" He said with a shy smile.

"Sure, warning would have been nice though." Gabriella said as she sat on the stool beside him.

"Oh." He said as his smile dropped.

"No, no! I meant warning for my mom, I could have calmed her down before she got out everything in the fridge for you." Gabriella said as she placed her hand on top of his.

"Ooohh." He replied as he smiled again and looked at Miss Montez happily frying bacon.

"I'm glad you're here, just like old times." She said as she kissed his cheek quickly.

Troy blushed and he turned to Gabriella's mom, "you don't have to do all this for me Miss Montez."

"No, I want to! As soon as I came home yesterday I could sense the difference in Gabriella, she was even happy when I told her she had to wash the dishes." Miss Montez said as she looked down at Troy and Gabi's hands together.

They immediately noticed her starring and dropped their hands to their sides, "thanks mom." Gabriella said sarcastically.

Troy laughed and then looked at the time, "eat up Gabs, we gotta go soon."

"I'm not that hungry, maybe like one pancake or something." She replied as she grabbed a pancake from the plate and poured syrup on it.

Troy looked down and smiled.

"What?" Gabi asked with a full mouth.

"Nothing, it's just that, that's what you said the last time I was here in the morning, except you said you just wanted a piece of toast." He replied as he grabbed a piece of bacon and began to chew it.

"Ohh. You remember?" She asked curiously.

"I remember everything about that day." Troy replied as his smile faded. Trying to change the subject, "so did you tell your mom about our A+?"

"What A+?" Miss Montez asked as her head shot up.

"We got an A+ on our project that we did together. I'll tell you about it later, we gotta go, bye mom!" Gabriella said as she jumped out of her stool and grabbed her bag.

Troy followed Gabriella and hesitantly intertwined his hand with hers. She looked down at their hands and smiled up at him.

As soon as they walked out of the house, Troy kissed Gabi's hand, "so does this mean you're my girlfriend?" Troy asked with a mischievous smile.

"I don't know Bolton, was that you asking?" Gabriella replied as she got into the passenger's seat of his car.

"Fine." He knelt down to the floor right next to the passenger's seat, where the door was still open, "Gabriella Montez, will you be mine?" He said exaggeratively.

She got out of the car and took Troy's hands as he stood up, "I wouldn't want to be anyone else's."

He smiled and brought his arms so they were around her waist, pulling her in, he kissed her as she twisted her hands around his neck. She felt her back against the car and a few seconds later she opened her eyes and pulled away.

"Oh crap! Were gonna be late come on!" She said as she kissed him one more time quickly and jumped into the car. He ran to the driver's side and started the car.

They got to school five minutes before the late bell rung. They both went to their lockers and met up close to their classroom. Their hands interlocked and they rushed into the classroom. They both looked surprised as they saw there was no one there.

"Ugh, we forgot! Miss Darbus brought the class to the theatre for class." Gabriella said as she pulled Troy out of the classroom down the hall.

"Oh yeah, she wanted us to see the art of being on stage." Troy replied, rolling his eyes.

They arrived at the doors of the auditorium and walked in. Most of the class was sitting down in the audience as Sharpay and Ryan began to walk on stage to show them a song and dance number.

Troy and Gabriella walked down the aisle hesitantly, still holding hands, as they saw Miss Darbus glare at them, "Miss Montez, Mr. Bolton. As you both seem to think being late is a right, you will go sing after Sharpay and Ryan."

"What!" They both said in unison. "I've never sung Miss Darbus, not infront of anyone at least." Troy said nervously.

"Mean either, please." Gabriella said with pleading eyes.

"You two should have thought about that before being late." The teacher said as she gestured for them to sit down until Sharpay and Ryan were finished.

Ryan and Sharpay began singing. It was a very upbeat song, with some spanish in it called, _Bop To The Top_.

As their song ended Troy looked over to Gabriella whose mouth was wide open in awe. Troy and Chad looked at each other, and immediately began laughing hysterically.

"Bolton, Montez! On stage, do not keep the theatre waiting." Miss Darbus said as she snapped them back to reality and both of them looked like they were going to be sick.

"Miss Darbus, we don't know the words to this song." Gabriella said as Kelsi started the piano.

"There's a television screen there with the words, think of it as karaoke." The teacher said as she pointed to a somewhat large screen on a cart on the floor, in front of the stage.

Troy looked at Gabriella who looked out at the class and gulped.

"We'll do this fast and get it over with, If we suck, it's okay." He said as he took her hand.

The class immediately started paying attention as they saw Troy and Gabriella lock hands, especially Taylor and Chad.

Kelsi started the music and Troy began to sing, "we're soarin', flyin' there's not a star in heaven that we can't reach."

As Gabriella watched him, her jaw dropped. He was amazing, and then she realized it was her turn.

"If we're tryin' so were breakin' free." She sang shyly, still looking up at Troy.

He was amazed, her voice was…perfect, and all those years of knowing her, he never knew.

They started to loosen up by the middle of the song, but still kept their hands together. When the song finished, the class stood up and cheered, except for Chad and Taylor, who were just sitting there, astonished.

* * *

The bell rung and Troy and Gabriella walked down the halls of East High, holding hands, confidently. They tried not to notice the people starring, but it was obvious.

"Hey Troy." A small girl said as she walked up to Troy at his locker.

"Oh hey Ryleigh." He replied with no interest.

"I was wondering if you'd come to my party on Saturday. There's gonna be music, alcohol, and me." She said as she came closer suggestively.

"Sure, I don't drink though. Can I bring my girlfriend?" He said with a smile, noticing how her smile dropped.

"Girlfriend? I didn't know you had a girlfriend. Buy yeah whatever, bring her if you want." She said as she looked down, disappointed.

"Okay, I gotta go, bye." He said as he laughed at how he asked if he could bring Gabriella on purpose, to show Ryleigh he wasn't interested in anyone else but _his_ Gabs.

Troy sat down next to Gabriella in Physics, "hey, wanna go to a party with me on Saturday?"

"Who's party?" She asked as she kissed his cheek swiftly.

"Ryleigh Beller asked me." He said as he got out his Physics book and placed it on his desk.

"Ryleigh Beller, she's like one of the biggest sluts in school! I am definitely coming with you." Gabriella said as jealousy rushed through her.

"I know she's a slut, that's why I asked her if I could bring my girlfriend." He replied as he laughed.

"Thank you, I love you for that, but I'm still going with you." She said as she smiled back at him.

Troy froze.

"Troy, are you okay?" Gabriella asked, thinking as if she said something wrong.

"Yeah, yeah. It's just that you said 'I love you for that.'" Troy said as he smiled.

"I already told you I loved you though." Gabriella said confused.

"I know, but it still gives me chills to hear you say it. I like it when you say it." He said as his face turned bright red.

Gabriella smiled and opened her physics book to hide her blush.

Troy suddenly got serious, "I love you too."

* * *

The rest of the week was perfect. Troy and Gabriella spent most of their time together and the attention at school slowed down. It was Friday and Gabriella was the happiest she's ever been.

"Gabi! I haven't talked to you like all week. I want details. What is up with you and Troy?" Taylor said as she approached Gabriella walking to her car after school.

"Were together now, Tay. I've never been happier." Gabriella said simply.

"Did you tell him you loved him?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah, I actually yelled it at him, and then he kissed me and said he loved me too." Gabi said as she smiled to herself.

"Aww, kinda cheesy, but aww. I have to go, but call me tonight with more info!" Taylor said as she hugged Gabriella and then headed towards her car.

Gabriella lay in her room, just finishing her homework. Troy had basketball practice so she couldn't see him until tomorrow when he picked her up for the party. She fell asleep quickly and let her dreams doze into Troy Bolton.

* * *

"Tay! I seriously need your help! There are gonna be tons of hot girls there and if I want Troy's eyes to stay on me, I have to look twice as hot as them!" Gabriella said as she raided her closet.

"Relax, Troy loves you. He won't show a hint of interest towards any of the other girls, I'm sure of it." Taylor assured her.

"I know, you're right. But I still have to look good so help!" Gabriella replied.

An hour passed and Taylor had left. Gabriella had on a jean skirt with a red flowy tank top. She wore white wedges and let her hair hang loose in numerous curls.

The door bell rung and she saw Troy who looked at her from head to toe and then said, "wow, you look beautiful."

"Thanks Troyzie Woizie." She replied with a giggle.

They arrived at the party and Gabriella took Troy's hand before he got out of the car, "Troy, I'm not popular like you…what if they don't like me?"

"It doesn't matter what they think of you, just think of it as school." Troy assured her as he kissed her forehead and got out of the car.

They walked in together and Chad immediately jumped on Troy, "dude, there's a West High Knight here and he challenged you to a one on one, I've been looking for you!"

"We just got here, but I'm up for a challenge." He said with a confident smile and then turned to Gabriella, "do you mind if I go, you can watch if you want."

"No, go on, it's okay. I wanna look around." Gabriella said as she nudged him towards Chad, "knock 'em dead baby."

Troy smiled and went with Chad towards the back door. Gabriella pushed her way through the crowd of people and went to get a drink. There was a bunch of alcohol, but she just went with water, she never liked alcohol.

"Hey baby, care to dance?" A voice from behind her said.

She turned around to see a tall, dark haired boy with a drink in his hands.

"Uhh..no thanks." She replied as she turned back around.

The guy pulled her arm back around, "excuse you..I mean me, whatever. I'm Walker. Dance with me, you won't regret it." He said as he pulled her closer forcibly with a smile.

"Get off me. I said no." She said as she pulled away, but he wouldn't let go.

"Fine, If you don't wanna dance, we can do something funner." He said as he pulled her up the stairs.

"Get the hell off me! Troy! Help!" She yelled as she kept trying to get out of his tight clutch.

Walker threw his drink to the floor and opened the door of a random bedroom. Right before he shut the door, Gabriella kicked him in his private and attempted to run back downstairs.

As she grabbed the banister and made her way down she felt the guy grab her waist and pull her back forcibly, "bitch, didn't your mom ever teach you not to kick guys in that certain place."

Gabriella held onto the banister with all her strength, still calling out, "Troy! Help! Somebody help me please!" As tears started welling in her eyes. Walker pulled her into the room and shut the door.

"Gabs?" Troy said confused as he walked down the hallway. He stopped as he approached the bottom of the steps.

"Troy! Help!" He heard Gabriella yell from upstairs.

He ran up the stairs and attempted to open the first door he saw, "Gabs are you in there?"

"Troy!" She yelled right before Walker shut her mouth with his hand.

"You talk too much baby, don't act like you don't want me." Walker said as he attempted to take her dress off.

Troy suddenly felt himself grow angrier and angrier as he attempted to open the door again, knowing that he couldn't help Gabriella in whatever she was yelling his name for. He finally kicked the door open, breaking the lock and found Gabriella against the wall, with the guy against her, trying to take her dress off.

Troy ran in and grabbed Walker and threw him to the other side of the room, "Gabriella, baby are you alright, did he hurt you?"

"He tried to…he forced me in here. I tried to get away, I really did." She said as tears started falling through her eyes.

Troy felt like his head was going to explode, he was so angry. Some guy had tried to hurt his Gabriella, and that guy wasn't going to get away with it. Troy turned around to face Walker, who was still trying to get up from when Troy pushed him. Troy pulled him up, "if you ever touch her, look at her, or breathe near her again, I will make it so you don't breathe at all." Troy turned back around to Gabriella, but then stopped, "one more thing." And at that, Troy's fist was flying across the air between him and Walker and punching Walker in the face so hard, he fell to the floor.

"Come on Gabs." He said as he took a crying Gabriella and pulled her out of the room, down the stairs and into the car.

"I'm sorry." Troy said as he drove to Gabriella's house.

"For what, you didn't try and…yah know." She replied as she wiped away her tears.

"I'm sorry for bringing you to that party, I should have known something bad could've happened. Nothing is ever going to hurt you again, and I'll make sure of it." Troy said seriously.

"It's not your fault, you saved me. Thank you, I love you." She said to assure him.

"I love you too, you should just go home and sleep it off." He replied.

"No! Please, I don't want to go home. Can you stay with me tonight. I need you, what if he finds my house or something." She said as fresh tears rolled down her eyes.

"No one is ever going to hurt you when I'm around, I promise. You can stay with me, I'll always protect you, don't forget that." He said as he took her hand and kissed it.

"I know, thank you." She replied with a smile.

They pulled up to Troy's house and Troy led Gabriella in quietly. He led her to his room and they took off their shoes and then both layed down on his bed. He put his arm around her and she snuggled up to his chest and closed her eyes.

"Just sleep, I've got you…always." He whispered in her hair before she dazed off into sleep.

**Okay, so I just redid this chapter a little bit because as I read it over, I didn't like some things:) Review!**


	7. Nuts

**Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated for a while, as you know I've been in the mountains for the past week, but I'm back and I've got so many new ideas! Reviews are much appreciated:)**

**Chapter 7- Nuts**

Gabriella opened her eyes. Taking in her surroundings, she realized she wasn't in her room. She sat up slowly and saw the picture of her and Troy on the bedside table, immediately realizing where she was, a smile formed on her lips. She looked around for Troy, but he was nowhere to be found. She looked down and saw that she was in a red dress, suddenly she remembered what occurred last night. She felt herself shiver as a rush of fear went down her spine. She suddenly became aware of the 'what ifs.' What if the guy found her because he was mad that Troy punched him, what if he did something to Troy. She knew she was being stupid because, why would he care that much to come looking for her, he was drunk. He probably doesn't even remember what he tried to do to her...right?. But her instincts got the better of her as she jumped out of the bed and opened the door cautiously. She could remember Troy telling her that his parents weren't gonna be here in the morning, so she began searching for the blue eyed boy that saved her.

"Troy…." She said as she slowly started walking through the hallway. She walked down the stairs and saw that the front door was wide open. Her fear increased as she frantically started looking for her love. She ran back upstairs, tears starting to well in her eyes.

"Troy!" She yelled as she looked in the bathroom and then began running down the stairs again.

"Troy! Please, where are you!" She screamed again as she felt the tears stream down her eyes, she turned the corner and, "Ugh."

She looked up. Her deep brown eyes immediately locked with his gorgeous blue ones. He was standing there, wearing a white wife beater and black basketball shorts. She looked to the side to see Chad, wearing a t-shirt and similar basketball shorts.

"Gabs, whats wrong, why are you crying?" Troy said as he dropped the basketball he was holding and took her hands.

"T…Troy. I was scared. The do…or was open, I thought he came back." Gabriella said as fresh tears started running down her eyes.

"Chad just came over, It's okay. Come on, you need to sit down." Troy said as he lifted her up, wedding style and started walking towards the living room.

"Troy, what's wrong with her?" Chad said as he followed Troy.

"Remember what I told you, she's still scared." He said as he sat down with Gabriella in his lap crying into his chest. "Can you give us a second?"

"Ugh, yeah sure. I'll be outside." Chad replied with a look of pure worry in his eyes.

"Thanks." Troy said as he began rubbing Gabriella's arm in comfort.

"He's not coming back Gabs, he was just some random idiot at he party. Nothing bad is gonna happen." He said as he lifted her head up and wiped away her tears.

"I know, I'm just overreacting. I'm sorry. I just got worried 'cause you weren't there." She said as her breathing slowed down.

"You have nothing to be sorry about." Troy replied.

Five minutes passed, Troy and Gabriella were still sitting on the couch in silence.

Troy heard the door shut and became alert.

"Gabi! Where are you?" He heard in the distance.

Taylor rushed into the living room and stopped for a second to see Gabriella on Troy's lap with tear marks on her cheeks and then slowly approached them.

"Tay, what are you doing here." Gabriella said as she stood up from Troy's chest.

"Chad called me. I was so worried." Taylor replied, pulling Gabriella into a comforting hug.

"Thanks Tay." Gabriella replied, hugging Taylor back.

Chad walked in, "sorry if you didn't want me to call her." Chad said nervously.

"No, no it's okay. I'm glad you did. I'm fine now though. I was just being silly." Gabriella said as she smiled at Chad weakly.

Troy sat up to break the silence, "So man let's finish the game that I was kicking your ass at."

"Yeah right Bolton." Chad said as he passed the basketball in his hands to Troy.

"Come on Gabs, lets go back to your house so you can change and then we'll come back." Taylor said as she locked arms with Gabi and started walking towards the door.

"Wait!" Gabriella replied as she slipped away from Taylor and ran towards Troy. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him sweetly. "Thanks." She said as she pulled away slowly and kissed him on the lips quickly and then turned back around to Taylor.

Troy smiled widely as he and Chad watched the girls leave.

"Dude, your so whipped." Chad said as he placed his hand on Troy's shoulder.

"Shut up man. I wouldn't be talking." Troy said as he began walking towards the back door to the basketball court.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Chad replied.

"I saw you eying Taylor when she came. And you just used Gabriella as an excuse to call her." Troy said with a smirk.

"Did not!" Chad yelled.

"Whatever man." Troy said as he dribbled the ball twice and then threw the ball in the air and 'swish' the ball went through the basket swiftly.

Half an hour later and Gabriella and Taylor were sitting on the grass watching the boys play one on one. Gabriella was simply wearing tight jeans, a yellow tank top and white flip flops. And her hair was in a messy pony tail.

Gabriella couldn't help but stare as she watched her boyfriend on the court. She could see his hair getting damp from the sweat and his chest and arms were getting sweaty too, but he still looked hot as ever.

"So man, are you still staying over tonight 'cause your parents are out of town." Troy said to Chad as he snapped Gabriella back to reality and sat down on the grass next to her.

"Yeah. It'll be awesome because your parents aren't gonna be here either." Chad replied.

"You boys are having a sleepover I see." Taylor said as she smirked at them.

"I wouldn't call it a sleepover, that's for chicks. It's more of a hang out." Chad proclaimed.

"Okay…whatever." Taylor said.

"Gabs, you wanna stay over too? It could be fun." Troy said with an excited smile.

"Ughh, I don't know. I wouldn't want to be the third wheel to you and Chad's 'hang out.' She said as she smiled to Taylor.

"Taylor can stay over too. Were just gonna eat junk and watch movies." Troy pleaded.

"Tay, you up for it?" Gabriella said as she turned to her best friend.

"Yeah sure, sounds fun I guess." Taylor replied with an excited smile.

"Okay were in!" Gabriella smiled.

Chad looked around Troy and smiled at Taylor who smiled back with a blush.

***************

The door bell rung, Troy looked in the mirror once more. He was wearing Dark jeans with a white wife beater and a plaid unbuttoned shirt over it. He wasn't used to being so excited about his and Chad's hang outs, but now Gabriella was involved and he had to look good.

"He ran downstairs and opened the door. Chad was in the doorway with two pizza boxes in his hands and Taylor and Gabriella behind him.

"Special delivery!" Chad exclaimed as he walked in with the pizzas.

"Nice dramatic entrance Chad." Taylor said as she rolled her eyes and followed Chad in.

Gabriella stopped at the door way to greet Troy.

"Hi." She said with a smile.

"Hi to you too." Troy replied as he wrapped his arms around Gabriella. "I missed you Miss Montez."

"I've only been at my house a few hours Bolton." She replied with a giggle.

"So, that's a long time to me." He said as his cheeks turned red.

"Hey lovebirds! Hurry up or me and Tay are gonna eat all the grub!" Chad said from inside the kitchen.

They made their way to see that Chad and Taylor already started eating side by side. Gabriella noted that they were also flirting.

They both grabbed a piece of pizza and a drink and headed to the basement.

Troy put a movie in the big screen and sat on the floor next to Gabriella.

Chad and Taylor were on the couch talking and when the movie started, they were just smiling, pretending to pay attention.

An hour and a half passed and Troy looked down to see that Gabriella was focused on the movie. He looked up at Chad and slowly moved a hand up to nudge on his leg. Chad looked down at him after looking at Taylor who was also focused on the movie. Troy gestured toward a pillow on the floor and gave Chad a mischievous smirk. Chad seemed to understand as he nodded and mouthed '5, 4, 3, 2...1.' At that, Troy and Chad both jumped from their seats and grabbed two pillows, one in each hand. The girls looked up confused.

"What are you doing?" Gabriella said as she sat up awkwardly, upset that Troy left, taking the warmth with him.

Troy and Chad looked at each other for a few seconds, both with smirks on their faces.

"NOW!" Troy yelled out as he ran over to Gabriella and started hitting her with the pillow. The girls ran away, surprised.

"Oh it's so on Bolton!" Gabriella yelled as she jumped on to Troy's back, trying to tackle him to the floor.

Taylor ran towards the couch and grabbed a pillow. She ran towards Chad and began throwing the pillow in the air, having it land roughly on Chad's face.

"Damn. McKessie's got game." Chad said as he ran away like a little girl.

"We're girls. Pillow fights are on our agenda for sleepovers. We're experienced in this war!" Taylor said as she swung her arm, hitting Chad over and over.

"Oh you are in trouble Montez." Troy said as he pulled Gabriella to the floor and grabbed her waist. He threw her on the couch and began throwing the pillow in her direction.

"You ass!" Gabriella said as she broke out in laughter, covering her face with her arms.

"Time out!" Gabriella yelled as she put her hands out to Troy to surrender.

Everyone stopped and looked at each other for a moment. Then they looked around and noticed that the room was a mess. Feathers everywhere from the destroyed pillows. The couches were moved from their places. They all looked at each other again and then broke out in laughter.

Gabriella stopped laughing and took the time to run upstairs. Taylor noticed and followed her.

The boys opened their eyes and noticed the girls were making a run for it.

"Wimps!" Chad yelled out as he and Troy made their way to the stairs to follow them.

They made their way to the living room, the girls were nowhere to be found, then they opened the kitchen door and there they were. They were standing there mischievously. They both brought their hands up from behind the counter and the boys saw that Gabriella had a spray can of caramel and chocolate sauce in both of her hands and Taylor had whipped cream and strawberry sauce in her hands.

"Hello boys. Let's make sundaes." The girls said as they ran towards the boys and began using their 'weapons.' 5 minutes passed and the boys were covered, they definitely looked like ice cream sundaes.

"Ok. So that's how you wanna play. Come here Gabs, I want a hug." Troy said as he jumped at Gabriella.

"Troy!" She said as she pulled away and looked down. She was now drenched in chocolate sauce and caramel too.

"I want someone to hug too." Chad said as he walked towards Taylor.

"Ohhh no! I don't want a hug, stay away!" Taylor said as she backed away.

"You ruined my afro! But I forgive you and now I want a hug." Chad said as he noticed Troy and Gabriella had both started laughing.

Taylor started running away, she ran upstairs. Chad followed her sprinting, leaving Troy and Gabriella alone.

"Actually, I'm glad you guys did this. 'Cause now I taste good." Troy said as he licked his hand.

Gabriella giggled, "you had to hug me didn't you, now I'm covered in sundae condiments too."

"I bet you taste good though." Troy said with a smirk on his face as seductively walked towards Gabriella.

Troy placed his arms around her waist, he laughed when their clothes started sticking together from the caramel. He leaned down and kissed her sweetly. She replied by putting her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Troy pulled away after a few seconds, "Mmm, you do taste good."

"Your not so bad either." She replied with a smile.

He leaned again and their lips met once more. He reached over to the counter and grabbed a hand full of nuts from the small bowl, knowing that Gabriella was unaware.

He slightly smacked the handfull of nuts onto Gabriella's head.

"Troy!" She said as she pushed him away, not being able to hold in a giggle.

"A sundae's not a sundae without the nuts!" He said with an innocent smile.


	8. New Kid

**Hey guys! Sorry about the hold up, I have a great idea to add to the story to put some drama in it! Keep reading, it only gets better, I promise!**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL!**

**Chapter 8- New Kid**

Things with Gabriella and Troy have been going great. They are still acting like they're in the first stages of their relationship, the part where they find out they're in love with each other and they can't help but daydream about the other and think about the other nonstop, it's still like that. Unfortunately, Coach Bolton, Troy's dad has been pressuring Troy lately to step up his game. Although Coach Bolton loves Gabriella like his own daughter, he can't help but think Troy is paying a little too much attention to her and not enough to basketball. In order to get Troy's 'head in the game' Coach Bolton has been making Troy attend extra after school and before school practices, so he hasn't gotten much time to spend with Gabriella, actually 'hasn't gotten much time' is an understatement. They've hardly had any time together in a while.

Gabriella walks down the halls of East High, excited and confident.

"Morning Gabi, you look oddly happy…again." Taylor says as she joins Gabriella's stroll to her locker.

"Hey Tay. Beautiful morning isn't it?" Gabriella replies as she waves to a freshmen.

"Uhh..you wanna tell me why your so overly happy lately? When was the last time you had a 3 minute conversation with Troy?" Taylor said as she nudged Gabriella's shoulder.

"I haven't talked to him in a while, hes been busy with basketball….I miss him though." Gabriella replies as her smile drops for a few seconds and then lights back up. "But It's okay, he has basketball to worry about, I'm actually excited because I get to show the new kid around school today!"

"There's a new kid?" Taylor responds.

"Yup, he's gonna be in our homeroom. His name is…." Gabriella takes a manila folder out of her bag and opens it, "Aaron Brooks."

"Oh, why are you so excited?" Taylor says as she takes a peak at the folder.

"I don't know, I just think it will be fun. I used to show the freshmen around school all the time and I guess this will kinda be the same." Gabi says as she opens her locker, grabs two books and shuts it.

They arrive at their homeroom. Apparently, they're the first ones. They sit down and Gabriella glances at the seat next to her, immediately excited to see Troy will be there soon. The rest of the class comes in a few minutes later, but still no Troy.

Miss Darbus walks in with a blonde boy, with dark brown eyes and a hood over his head shortly behind her.

"Good morning class, I would like to introduce our new student....or change of plans. Aaron, why don't you introduce yourself." The Teacher says as she goes to sit down on her throne like chair, leaving Aaron standing in the front of the classroom, alone.

"Uhh, I'm Aaron Brooks." He said shyly.

"Go on Aaron, tell them where your from." Miss Darbus says as she waves her hand, as to say 'keep going.'

"I..I moved here from California. I was home schooled there." Aaron said as he looked directly at the floor.

"Alright, Aaron. Miss Montez over here will be your welcome committee. Gabriella show yourself." The teacher said as she pointed to Gabriella.

Gabriella stood up from her seat and waved. Aaron's eyes lit up, as he smiled shyly back.

"Introductions have been made, Mr. Brooks take a seat please, class is about to start." Miss Darbus said as she looked over her shoulder at the clock.

Aaron nodded his head and rushed to the seat next to Gabriella. _She's gonna be my tour guide. I guess I will get lucky here in Albuquerque. _ He thought to himself as he smiled widely to Gabriella. She gave him a weak smile back, a little upset that Aaron took Troy's awaiting seat and then looked at the door, _Troy… _

Right as the bell rang, Troy skid in the doorway, "I'm here, I'm here!"

"Ah, Mr. Bolton, I'm glad you could joy us with your presence. Take a seat." Miss Darbus said as she gestured towards the sea of students in the classroom.

"Sorry Ms. D."

"He turned to walk towards his seat next to Gabriella with a smile, but then his smile faded when he saw some other kid sitting there. He gave Gabriella a disappointed smile and Gabriella gave him one in return, tilting her head towards Aaron as to say 'I'm sorry he took your seat.'

As Troy passed her, his hand squeezed her hand real quick and then he walked to the back of the class and sat at an empty desk.

Gabriella turned to Aaron, who was starring at her. But as soon as Gabriella saw him, he turned his head the other way.

To Gabriella, the clock seemed like it was going slow on purpose. _Come on come on, stupid bell ring already. _

"_Diiinnngggggggg." _

"Yes! Umm hold on Aaron, I'll walk with you to your next class in a second." Gabriella said as she twirled around the desk to jump into Troy's arms.

"I've missed you." He said as he kissed her forehead.

"I've missed you too, Coach is working you hard huh?" Gabriella said as she turned to see Aaron walking towards the door.

"Who's the new kid who stole my seat next to the most beautiful wildcat at East High?" Troy said as he looked at Aaron, who he noticed was starring at them with a glare in his eyes, but then looking away once he noticed Troy saw him.

"Oh, that's Aaron Brooks. I have to show him around, including walking him to his classes today. So I gotta go. But can you come over later?" Gabriella said as she took her arms away from around Troy's neck. Troy laced his fingers with hers as they walked towards the door.

"I'll try, my dad……you know. I'm sorry Gabs." He said as he kissed her hand.

"Yeah, but please please please try! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever." She replied as she hugged him one more time and then pulled away.

"I will, I'd rather spend my time with you then playing basketball any day. I'll call you later If I can come." Troy said as he kissed her on the lips swiftly and then started walking away backwards.

"Okay." Gabriella replied, with sadness in her eyes.

"I love you Gabs." He said before turning around.

"Love you too." She whispered, knowing that he wouldn't have been able to hear her anyways.

"Who's he?" A voice behind Gabriella said, making her jump.

"Oh, Aaron. You scared the crap out of me." She said as she put her hand on her heart.

"Sorry. Who was he?" He said curiously.

"Let's walk and talk, cause were gonna be late otherwise." She said as she started walking towards Aaron's next class. "That's my boyfriend, Troy."

"_Boyfriend_." He responded as he looked at the floor once more.

"Yeah, you seem…..surprised." She said as she stopped at the front of the door.

"No….is this my class?" He said, trying to change the subject.

"Um, yeah. Ms. Mill. She's really nice, just don't sit in the front….. she defines the phrase 'say it don't spray it.' Gabriella said with a giggle.

"Okay, thanks." He said simply as he walked into the classroom rapidly.

"Okay then…bye to you too." She said with a smile as she turned her heel quickly to the other direction to get to her class.

***************

"So, dude. What's up with the new kid. He's a little…shy." Chad said as he passed the ball to Troy.

They were in the gym during free period. Aaron just came through the front door of the gym, glanced at Troy and then walked out the back door **(weird I know).**

"I don't know, shy is an understatement in his case. Gabriella has to show him around." Troy replied as he took a shot and the ball went in with a 'swish.'

"Nothing but net." Chad said as he ran to get the rebound.

"He gave me a weird face in Darbus' class today, when I was talking to Gabs." The blue eyed boy said as he took a sip of his water.

"Hmm, maybe he's got the hots for his tour guide." Chad said with a mocking smile. He looked over to Troy who was zoned out. "Yo Troy, I was kidding man."

"Huh, oh yeah, I know. Oh crap, here comes the all mighty coach. A.K.A, my dad. We better look like were actually practicing." Troy said as he took the ball from Chad and ran over to the net to make a lay up.

Second period ended slowly and Gabriella and Aaron are on their way to lunch.

"So, Aaron, how do you like East High so far?" Gabriella asked in an attempt to break the silence.

"It's very….different. I mean very different then being home schooled." Aaron replied.

"I've never been home schooled so I wouldn't know, but I bet it's a change for you. But don't worry, high school's a breeze once you get the hang of it. Plus, you've got me for help." Gabriella said as she nudged his shoulder.

"Fortunately. I think I'll need all the help I can get. I'm not very good with tests and grades, I was never really 'jimmy neutron boy genius' if you get what I'm saying." He said as he put down his hood.

"All you have to do is ask!" She replied with a grin.

"Okay, then I was wondering if maybe you wanted to get together today. I have a big history test coming up…already and I bet you'd be a big help." Aaron asked with hopeful eyes.

"Ughhh…" Gabriella knew she asked Troy to get together today, but there was a large possibility he wouldn't even be able to, and she didn't want to turn down Aaron his first day, "Sure."

"Great! I mean, thanks." He replied with odd excitement.

"You want me to come over to your hou-" She said but was cut off.

"NO!.....I mean, my parents..are still unpacking from the move. How about we do it at yours?" He said as he looked to the floor, as if he was trying to hide something.

"O..Okay." Gabriella said. She was about to ask him why he didn't want her to come to his house but then she just let it go, not wanting to be nosy when they just met a few hours ago. They arrived at the cafeteria and Gabriella led Aaron to her usual table where Taylor, Chad, Kelsi, Martha, Zeke, and Jason were all sitting.

"Hey guys, you remember Aaron right? From homeroom." Gabriella said as she sat down next to Taylor and Aaron sat next to her.

"Oh yeah, hey man." Chad said first and then the others followed by greeting him with, "heys."

"Where's Troy?" Gabriella asked as she took a water bottle out of her bag.

"Oh, I forget to tell you, he told me to tell you to meet him in your special place…whatever that means." Chad told Gabriella.

Gabriella's face lit up. She stood up from her seat and was about to leave when she turned back around, "are you okay here Aaron?"

"Yeah I guess." He replied.

"Okay, bye guys!" Gabriella said as she made her way to the roof.

She walked up the stairs and saw Troy, standing near the flowers, looking out at Albuquerque. Gabriella snuck up behind him and put her hand on his face to cover his eyes, "guess who."

"Hmm, this is hard. Godzilla?" Troy replied, trying to hold in a laugh.

"Yup! I hope your happy knowing that your kissing Godzilla." Gabriella replied as she hit him on the back.

Troy turned around, "I was kidding."

"I know." Gabriella replied as she looked at his hand, he was twirling around a small purple flower.

"Do you remember this flower? The same one you had…..or should I say you squished, the first time I kissed you." Troy said as he put his arms around Gabriella's waist.

"Of course I remember." She replied as she put her arms around his neck and kissed him sweetly. They kissed for a few minutes, pulling away every now and then for air.

"I think I can convince my dad to let me come over today." Troy said as he pulled away and stroked Gabriella's cheek.

"About that….even if your dad did say yes, you can't come over." She said as she sat down on the bench, and pulled his arm down so he could sit next to her.

"What? Why?" Troy said with sad eyes.

"Aaron's coming over." She said as she layed her head on his chest.

"Woow wow wow!" Troy said as he got up from the bench suddenly, leaving Gabriella in an awkward position, "that creeper is coming to your house!"

"He's not a creeper Troy! He needs help in history! Stop being stupid and come back here, I haven't spent time with you for more than ten minutes these past few weeks, this might be our only chance, so get your ass back on this bench, put your arms around me, kiss me and tell me you love me until the bell rings because the next time I see you, it will probably be in class or in between classes. I miss my boyfriend dammit!" She said as if everything she's been thinking spilled out of her mouth all at once.

Troy stood there for a few seconds, surprised. He could see Gabriella's eyes beginning to water. His facial expression went from shocked to sad. He rushed back over to the bench and sat down, he immediately pulled Gabriella into a tight, comforting hug.

"I'm sorry baby." He whispered into her hair.

"I've been trying to hide it, by acting like I'm all happy, but I'm not. I miss you." She said as she blinked, letting one tear roll down her cheek.

"I've missed you too. I'm sorry, I will find more time for us. Even if it means ditching basketball practice." He replied as he wiped away her tear.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, it's not your fault and no, no, you can't. What about your dad?" She said.

"My dad can get over it." He replied with a hopeful smile.

"Troy…I don't want you to pause your life, for me." Gabriella said as she nuzzled in the crook of Troy's neck.

"You are the biggest part of my life! If I miss an extra work out, It's not your fault. I miss it, because it's my choice, I want to spend more time with you. All I can think about when I'm dribbling that orange ball is my girl. Besides, I don't have to miss the regular practices, just the stupid extra ones, that **I** only have to go to." He assured her.

She giggled and looked up into his deep blue eyes.

"What?" Troy said, confused.

"_Your_ girl huh?" She replied with a blush.

"Hell yeah, you've been my girl ever since we were younger." He said.

Gabriella smiled, "are you sure you can miss those extra practices?"

"Absolutely, I'd do anything for you." He said with a cute smirk, Gabriella couldn't help but get chills.

"_Diiinnngggggggg__." _They heard the bell ring loudly.

"Crap!" Troy said as he took Gabriella's hand and pulled her along with him down the stairs into the colorful halls of East High.

**I tried to spice things up a little, hope you liked it! There's gonna be lots of drama coming up! Keep your eyes on Aaron, he's gonna be a big part of the next few chapters! I had to rush a little so I'm sorry if there are a few typos. I'm not getting many reviews, so please review:)**


	9. Worst Mistake Ever

**I'm sorry for the wait, it took me a while to think of this chapter. **** I wanted to make it perfect because this is the one where…im not gonna say anything because I don't wanna ruin it, but I will say 'this is where it all starts.' Keep reading, it gets interesting, trust me….! Haha. By the way, I have an idea for another story! I'm still thinking about it, I have the first chapter written down in my notebook, so I'll put up a summary or a trailer and tell me if you think I should make it a story! Thanks!**

**Chapter 9- Worst Mistake Ever**

"Sooo, Aaron. Why did you and your parents decide to move here?"

Aaron looked at Gabriella and then looked down, trying to think of something to say. They were on their way to Gabriella's house.

"Um, just because we didn't..like it at my old house." He replied.

"Oh, did something happen there or something?" She said, and then mentally kicking herself once she realized she's being a little too nosy to someone she just met a few hours ago.

"You could say that." Aaron said, while starring out the window.

"Okay." She saw her house up ahead and let out a quiet sigh, relieved that she had an escape from having awkward small talk with Aaron. "Here's my house."

They got out of the car and walked inside to see that Gabriella's mom wasn't home yet from work. Gabriella was about to walk upstairs, when she remembered Troy saying how he didn't want her and Aaron working in her room alone. She smiled, thinking how cute Troy is when he's nervous about something.

"How about we work in the living room, can I get you something to drink?" She said as she dropped her bag on the floor and turned to Aaron.

"Sure, anything is fine." He said while awkwardly standing next to the couch.

"Aaron." She giggled, "you can sit down."

"Right." He blushed.

Gabriella walked back in with two sodas and a wide grin, "alright, let's get started then, shall we?"

**************

"I thought you were gonna go to Gabi's house today, since Coach B. gave us the afternoon off..finally." Chad said as he shot at another criminal on the screen. They were at an arcade, relieved from the time they get, not having to play basketball.

"I was gonna, she said Aaron is coming over." Troy replied as he put down his toy gun and went towards the foosball table.

"Dude, she ditched you for the new kid. Poned." Troy gave Chad a death glare.

"I wasn't poned okay, they're just studying. I don't blame her anyway, everytime we make plans I always end up getting stuck having to go to open gym with my dad, or an extra practice."

"Whatever, I don't like that Aaron kid. What's up with the hood?" Chad said as he flicked his wrist and the mini soccerball went into Troy's goal.

"Shit!" Troy scoffed.

Chad smiled, "you never were a soccer person."

"Gabriella seems to like him though." Troy said as he turned around and leaned against the foosball table.

"She would Troy, girls are oblivious to what guys are really like underneath the words, or in Aaron's case, underneath the hood."

"You haven't even talked to the guy, and he's only been here one day, how would you know what he's like?" Troy asked.

"I don't know. But you, as her boytoy and me as her boytoy's best friend, have the right to find out." Chad smiled mischeviously.

"I'm not her boytoy smartass."

**************

"Gabriella, I'm ho-" Miss Montez walked in the living room to find Gabriella and Aaron sitting on the floor laughing hysterically together.

"Gabi." They didn't hear her over their laughter, "Gabi who's this?" She sorta yelled.

"Oh…mom…your home. This is..Aaron." Gabriella laughed inbetween words, trying to catch her breath. They both stood up, trying to compose themselves and stop laughing.

"Hi Miss Montez, I'm Aaron. A friend of Gabriella's from school." He held out his hand with a smile.

"Hello Aaron, what are you guys up to?" Miss Montez replied.

"We were working but then Aaron said something really funny and you know. Today was actually his first day as a wildcat." Gabriella explained.

"Oh wonderful, would you two like some snacks?" The middle aged mother asked.

"Sure, thanks mom."

"Gabi, can you come in the kitchen to help me for a minute?" Her mother asked.

Gabriella nodded and then smiled at Aaron and followed her mother into the kitchen.

Aaron's smile dropped as soon as Gabriella left. His mind was about to explode_, oh great her mom doesn't like me. She has to like me! Why the hell doesn't she like me._ He though while he slowly walked up to the door and put his ear against it to listen in.

"Gabi, did you and Troy break up?!?!" Maria Montez asked frantically.

"No mom, what does that have to do with anything." Gabriella looked at her mother weirdly.

"I never see him around here anymore, and now I see you in there with that other boy acting so friendly. You two just met today..you seem pretty close." Gabriella's mother said nervously.

"Troy has basketball mom. Me and Aaron are just friends." She protested.

"I never said I though you two were more." The older brunette protested back.

"Mom, I know you better than anyone. That is exactly what you were thinking. You of all people should know how in love with Troy I am. I've only had like…100 talks to you about him and how happy I am with him. Me and Aaron have just been studying and somewhere along the way we broke the ice and I think we are gonna be really good friends." Gabriella said as she kissed her mom on the cheek, grabbed a bowl of chips and then made her way back out to Aaron.

Aaron heard her approaching.

"Sorry about that Aaron, like chips?" She said as she took a seat next to Aaron, who was relaxed in his seat…apparently to her.

"Actually, I have to go. My mom's gonna be mad if I'm not home soon." He said as he got up from his seat. "But can I have your phone number? Just in case I need another tutor session. Today really helped."

"Yeah sure." She replied as she ripped a piece of paper out of her notebook and began to write.

She handed it to him and smiled.

"Thanks." He said as he stood there, not knowing whether to hug her or not. He made a choice. He leaned over and hugged her, Gabriella caught on and hugged him back.

"See yah tomorrow?" Aaron said as he opened the front door, about to leave.

"Yup!" She exclaimed, happy with her new friend.

**************

A few weeks had passed and Gabriella and Aaron had become very close. Mostly because whenever Gabriella was thinking about hanging out with Taylor or something, Aaron would suddenly ask her to hang out. Now that Gabriella had Aaron to occupy her, she told Troy that he didn't have to blow off his basketball stuff for her. She told him she still wanted 'Gabs and Troy time' but he didn't have to blow off basketball for it, and Taylor was more of the 'study, work, study again' type, she's grown fond of Aaron because he filled the gap of Troy and Taylor not being there.

Gabriella was at her locker, of course Aaron was there too. Gabriella was giggling at how Aaron said he loves peanut butter and pickle sandwiches.

"That is so gross!" She exclaimed with a giggle.

"It is not! Try it and then say it's gross! Let's hang out and I'll make one fo-." Aaron was cut off.

"Gabs!" Troy said as he ran towards his girlfriend. Gabriella shut her locker and met Troy half way.

Before she could say anything, Troy's lips were on hers. They backed up towards the lockers to make sure they didn't attract too much attention. A few seconds passed and they pulled apart for air.

"Wow, Troyzie Woyzie. When was the last time you did that!" She said as she smirked at him.

"I'm sorry, the big games coming up and you don't seem like you care that much now that you have _Arnold_." He knew his name was Aaron but didn't care. Troy scoffed as he gave Aaron a quick glare and then looked back to Gabriella.

Aaron was still standing by Gabriella's locker. Disgusted by what he was seeing. He could feel his eyes turn to slits as he watched them kiss. He turned as soon as he saw Troy's glare and made his way down the hall.

"His name is Aaron, Troy. And you know how much I miss you. But with Aaron, he keeps my mind off of missing you. I prefer it that way because now you can focus on basketball and I'm not holding you back." She said as she laced their hands together.

"Your never holding me back Gabs. You should know that. Right after this game, my dad has no reason to torture us anymore and I can spend all my free time kissing you." He smirked, Gabriella's favorite smile, and moved closer to her seductively.

"I like the sound of that." She replied as she kissed him and then felt Troy pull away.

"But I don't like you spending so much time with him! Why don't you hang out with Taylor or Kelsi or someone else?" He frowned.

"Because Taylor, all she wants to do is study or work and Kelsi is working on her compositions. I've asked them to hang out tons of times. But they're just too busy." She explained. "What's so bad about Aaron anyway. He's a good friend and if you talked to him you would agree!" She replied.

"Yeah, sure. That's gonna happen." He said sarcastically.

"Come on Troyboy, let's get to homeroom before Miss Darbus goes psycho on us."

"Troyboy? Since when?" He asked as he put his arm around her shoulder and they began walking down the hall.

"I just thought of it just now when I saw you. I think it's cute." She replied with a wide grin.

Aaron was already in homeroom when Troy and Gabriella walked in, hands laced together.

"Hey, that's my seat." Troy said as he glared at Aaron.

"_Not for long_." Aaron smirked in a whisper.

"What'd you say?" Troy said, eyes slitting. He knew exactly what Aaron said.

"Nothing, oh nothing." Aaron said with a mischievous smile.

Class ended and as soon as it did, Troy kissed Gabriella quickly and then made his way to find Chad at his locker.

"Hey man, I need your help!" Troy exclaimed.

"With?" Chad asked.

"I wanna find out more about this Aaron kid. There's something off about him. I can feel it." Troy explained.

"Finally! Troy my friend, you've come to the right person." Chad exaggerated.

Troy smirked, "dude, were not in a movie."

"Shut up man! I can dream can't I."

****************

Gabriella missed Troy, a lot. But spending time with Aaron, was kind of like spending time with Troy. Except for the kissing, the holding hands, the way Troy holds her, the tingles, the chills, the butterflies in her stomach and much more….well it was a little like spending time with Troy….a very little. But Aaron entertained her, like a good friend should and kept her mind away from missing Troy. So it wasn't so hard for her to be away from him anymore, but trust me, it was still hard.

Aaron looked at Gabriella curiously, he noticed she was very quiet today. They were on their way to her house to hang out.

"You okay Gabs?" Aaron broke the silence.

"Oh yeah Troy, I'm fine." She said and as soon as she looked at Aaron her weak smile dropped.

Aaron had a glare on his face, he looked disgusted that she just called him Troy.

"Oh, I'm sorry Aaron. I wasn't thinking. Can I actually ask you a favor?"

"Um, okay." Aaron replied, suddenly dropping his glare and turning it into a smile.

"Could you please not call me Gabs." She asked as she pulled into her driveway.

They both got out of the car and Aaron turned to Gabriella.

"Okay, if you don't like that name." He replied.

"No, it's not that. It's just that 'Gabs' is Troy's name for me. It's kinda special to him because he's the only one that calls me that, ever since we were younger." She explained with a smile on her lips, as the memory lingered in her head.

Aaron didn't say anything. He just put his hood over his head to cover up the slits his eyes were turning in to.

Gabriella walked up to the porch and saw a note taped to the front door. She pulled it off and it read,

**Gabi,**

**I went out for drinks with some of the girls I work with. There's pizza in the oven. The house is a mess so please don't bring any friends over today. You know how I am. See you tonight sweetheart.**

**Love you,**

**Mom**

Gabriella stuck the note in her pocket quickly, or atleast she thought she did, the note dropped to the floor.

"I'm sorry Aaron, I can't have anyone in the house today. My mom's kinda psycho about guests being over when the house isn't clean. You wanna go to your house?" Gabriella asked as she walked back towards the car.

"No, we can't go to my house. We should just hang out tomorrow or something." He implied.

"Okay, can I atleast give you a ride home?" She dangled her keys in her hands and smiled.

"Um, sure. Thanks." He got in to the passenger's seat.

************

Troy and Chad just finished practice and are now in the locker room, about to leave.

"So how do we find out about Aaron, Gabriella's hanging out with him today..again, stupid basketball." Troy was anxious.

"Follow me." Chad walked out of the locker room, after checking if the coast was clear. He ran towards the main office of the school, with Troy right behind him.

"What are we gonna do here, the doors are probably locked." Troy asked.

"Wanna bet." Chad twisted the doorknob and the door swung open. "Voila'! We are gonna check out Mr. Creepers file."

Chad made his way towards the file cabinets and then took out a pocket knife.

"Your not supposed to bring that in school dipshit!" Troy exclaimed.

"School hours are over, do you wanna find out about Aaron, the guy who's all over YOUR girlfriend, or not?" Chad was such a smartass sometimes.

Troy scoffed and all he could think of was, _it's for my Gabriella. _"Yo! James Bond, we better not get caught."

"We won't." Chad got the cabinet open and then put the knife back in his pocket. "James Bond….that suits me." He smiled and started searching through the numerous manila folders, "Brooks, Brooks…A ha! Here we go."

Troy took the manila folder from Chad's hands and skimmed through it, "there's nothing here but crap about how he was home schooled." Troy got to the back of the folder and saw another, smaller folder that said on the front of it, 'CONFIDENTIAL.'

***************

Gabriella pulled up to Aaron's house. It was kind of in the middle of nowhere. It was small and it looked really old.

"You have a nice house." She lied.

"Uh, thanks." Aaron replied as he got out of the car. "Thanks for the ride, I'll see you tomorrow, or if I don't get to see you this weekend, I'll see you on Monday." Aaron smiled.

"Alrighty, bye!" Gabriella pulled out of the narrow driveway and made her way back in the other direction.

She was almost home when she looked at the floor of the passenger's seat and saw Aaron's history textbook and all of his notes.

"Crap." She looked behind her before making a u-turn, not knowing that that u-turn was probably the worst mistake of her life.

**Dun dun dun! That was fun to write****. I left it at a cliffhanger, sorry! Your probably wondering what's in Aaron's 'CONFIDENTIAL' file, next chapter you'll see. Next chapter is gonna be extreme I'm excited to write it! Keep reading and REVIEW please! I'll try not to keep you waiting:) **


	10. You'll Never Be Him

**Oh my gosh! I'm so excited to write this chapter! Eeeeeeeep! Enjoy:)**

**Chapter 10- You'll Never Be Him**

"Now we're getting somewhere!"

Troy smirked, "what if we open it and it just says his dad or something hurt him. I'm gonna feel like shit if it's something like that, and I know you are too."

They just found the 'CONFIDENTIAL' file in Aaron's folder.

"Troy, before you look at it, check this out." Chad handed Troy a sheet of paper.

"These are just Aaron's grades for the past few years." Troy stated, confused.

"I know, but notice a pattern?" Chad said as he pointed to the sheet again.

Troy looked again, squinting his eyes as to think that would help. Then his eyes grew wide and he just stood there and then looked at Chad.

"Holy shit, he has straight A's." Troy whispered in shock.

"Yup, Gabriella's been tutoring someone who definitely doesn't need tutoring." Chad replied.

Troy immediately snapped back into reality and he frantically opened the 'CONFIDENTIAL' file. He read it out loud and it said,

**Aaron Samuel Brooks was sent to court on May 10, 2007 on behalf of supposedly harassing a young teenage girl, Nancy Hoffman. Mr. Brooks allegedly stalked the young girl for a few months. When the girl started getting suspicious of his actions, she notified the police. Aaron had a panic attack and threatened to commit suicide. Aaron quoted, "she loves me! Nancy tell them you love me! If she doesn't love me, then I'll kill myself! Say it!" Aaron quoted this whilst holding a shotgun to his temple. A police officer came up behind him, stopping him from committing the act. The 15 year old girl, Nancy, was Aaron's tutor for a few weeks before she says he starting acting clingy. The school board in Albuquerque went over Aaron's case numerous times. They stated, "because Aaron has been at an institution for many months and seems to have improved, we will let him attend public school, under probation." Aaron was released from Harbor Bay Institution and will attend East High School, having been notified of his boundaries.**

"Holy nachos! I'm copying this!" Chad exclaimed as he ran towards the copy machine and began copying a few of the papers.

Troy just stood there. In shock. His life, love, his Gabriella was with this psycho right now.

"Troy, man are you okay? We have to go! You gotta tell Gabi! She's his tutor man just like that Nancy girl!" Chad said obviously, trying to snap Troy out of it.

Troy dropped the folder and ran out of the office. Chad ran after him, "where are you going!"

"To get my girl!"

Gabriella pulled up to Aaron's house. She grabbed Aaron's history book and notes from the floor and got out of the car. She slowly walked up to the house. She looked through the windows, it looked like there was hardly any furniture. Confused she knocked on the door. After a few seconds she knocked again, still no answer. She remembered Aaron saying his parents weren't home and she knew he was in there so she cautiously tried opening the door, it was unlocked. She peeped her head through the door, "Aaron?"

She walked inside, closing the door behind her. "Aaron? You forgot your history stuff!"

Still no answer.

She looked around, it was dark, weirdly dark. She saw a light coming from upstairs so she cautiously walked up the stairs. There was a light coming from the crack of a door on the left of the narrow hallway. She couldn't help but shiver. _It's just Aaron right? He probably just didn't feel like wasting electricity._

She knocked on the door…no answer. She slowly opened the door. It creaked open. She walked inside slowly and froze. All along the walls of the room, were pictures. Of her. Pictures of her at school, walking to her car, in her bedroom, taken from her window. There was even a picture of her at Starbucks. After a few seconds of standing there in shock, she blinked and became aware of her surroundings. She turned around quickly to get the hell out of there but she knocked into something stiff. She opened her eyes and there was Aaron, with his hood over his head looking at her.

"Hello Gabriella. I see you've seen my bedroom." He said with a small, creepy smile.

"A…Aaro..on. I….your…history." She stuttered.

"Oh you brought my history stuff, thanks." He replied calmly.

"I ha..ave to g..go. M..y mom." She tried to walk away, but when she felt a hand embrace her arm roughly, she knew her excuse didn't work.

"Gabs, don't lie to me. We both know your mom's not home." He stated.

She flinched at what he called her and then took a deep breath, "Aaron, let me go."

"I'm sorry Gabriella, but I can't do that. Because then you'd leave and tell the police. But those pictures, they just show..how much I love you." Aaron said innocently.

"Love me? Okay, if you love me then you'll let me go Aaron." Gabriella said firmly, trying to stay calm and play along.

"Don't you see Gabriella. I love you so much! I know you love me too! I have to stop you from making a mistake. So I can't let you leave." He said as he squeezed her arm tighter.

"Let me go!" She yelled and tried squirming away. Aaron grasped her waist and began pulling her towards his bedroom. She grabbed onto the doorframe, but her strength was no match for his. He pulled her inside. With a flick of his foot, the door slammed behind them.

Troy got out of the car putting his cell phone in his pocket after calling Gabriella for the 50th time, but no answer. He ran through the grass swiftly. He got to the porch and started frantically slamming his fist against the door, "Gabriella! It's Troy! Open the door!"

He felt something crumple under his left foot. He picked up the note from Miss Montez and read it. After he read it, he held his head in his hands, frustrated. _Her and jeepers creepers were gonna hang out today! So where the hell could they be!_

His head shot up, if it was possible, there would be a light bulb floating on top of his head. He got out his phone and started typing numbers.

'Ringggg….Ringggg'

"Hello?"

"Chad! You copied some of Aaron's papers right?" Troy asked.

"Yeah." Chad answered, confused.

"Look through the papers and find his address!"

"Aaron, why are you doing this? I thought we were friends."

Gabriella was tied up on Aaron's bed, tears running down her cheeks.

"Don't you get it! We're gonna be together forever. I didn't want it to be like this. I was gonna get rid of the shit of a basketball captain and then you would realize you love me! Not him!" He explained.

"You were gonna wha..at to Troy." Anger rushed through Gabriella so quickly, she suddenly started screaming and pulling at the rope that kept her tied to the headboard of the rusty bed. "You touch him and I swear on my life you will regret it you sick bastard!"

"Everything is ruined now! You love me Gabs! Just relax." He yelled.

"Don't. Call. Me. Gabs."

"Troy isn't in the picture anymore. Just forget about him! You love me and you know it!" Aaron yelled as he slammed his fist against the wall.

She clenched her teeth together and her head shot up. "I will never love you."

"_Shut up_." Aaron whispered.

"You will never mean anything in my eyes compared to how much Troy means to me!" She yelled.

"Stop lieing!" Is he deaf? Or just stupid.

"YOU WILL NEVER BE TROY!" Aw, shit. She shouldn't have said that.

Aaron turned around, his eyes in slits. He walked up to Gabriella and slapped her across the face so hard she blacked out.

Troy walked up to Aaron's house, he parked a little far away, just in case. He spotted Gabriella's car and fear took over his body. To keep himself from thinking the worst he just kept thinking, _they're just studying, like always. She's fine. She's fine._

He walked up to the porch and peeked into the window. It was dark, but he got a glimpse of Aaron's history book on the table. Uh oh. Troy thought the worst. _Why the hell would they be studying without the history book?_ He didn't think twice before opening the door quietly. He closed the door behind him, "Gabriella?"

No answer. "Baby, where are you?"

He saw the same light coming from upstairs that Gabriella saw when she came. He walked up the stairs cautiously and attempted to open the door. It was locked.

"Gabs? Are you in there?" He said through the door.

Gabriella opened her eyes, she blinked a few times. _Ughh, my head hurts. Screw Aaron._

"Gabriella? Baby, you in there?" She heard his angelic voice from outside.

"Troy? Troy is that you!" She yelled frantically, a smile appearing on her face.

"Gabs! Open the door!"

"I can't! I'm tied to the bed! Help me please!" She yelled, but then lowered her voice. She looked around. _Crap, where's Aaron._

She jumped in the bed when she saw the door fly open. The hinges broken off. Troy came running in.

"Troy! Thank god!" She pleaded with fresh tears streaming down her eyes.

"Oh my…what happened?" He asked as he rushed to her side, immediately trying to undo the rope tying her to the bed.

"He pulled me in here and tied me down and then punched me and I blacked out." She explained.

"Where's the super freak anyways?" Troy asked. He turned his head for a second and noticed the pictures everywhere. "Yo..u. Yo..ur everwhere."

"I know, now let's not waste time stating the obvious!" She yelled, snapping Troy back into reality. Reality sucked right now.

He continuously pulled and bit on the rope. "Damn, was this guy in the army or something. Don't worry Gabs, I'm gonna get you out of here."

Finally, the rope came undone, releasing Gabriella.

"Thank you! Now let's get out of here." She said as she got up and took Troy's hand.

With Troy protectively in front of Gabriella, they ran downstairs. As soon as they got to the bottom of the stairs,

'CCCCRAASSHHH'

A chair went flying at Troy, knocking him to the floor. Aaron stood to the side, anger in his eyes.

"She's mine and she's not going anywhere." Aaron scoffed.

Gabriella rushed to Troy's side, who was attempting to stand up. Aaron ran over and grabbed Gabriella.

"No! Ple..ea..se! Troy!" She yelled as tears started running uncontrollably down her now swollen cheek.

Troy's head jerked up. With one thing on his mind, saving Gabriella.

Troy jumped Aaron, knocking both him and Gabriella to the ground. Troy held him down, "go now Gabs! Run!"

Gabriella stood up, "no Troy! I'm not leaving you!"

Aaron jutted his elbow up, hitting Troy in the face. Aaron, now holding Troy down, punched Troy in the face once again and at that, Gabriella jumped on his back. Aaron stood up, trying to knock off Gabriella.

"I love you! Don't you see!" He yelled and then he slammed Gabriella against the wall. She winced in pain and fell to the floor. Aaron made his way toward Troy, still on the floor in pain. He kicked Troy in the stomach and Troy screamed in pain. Aaron lifted his fist up and without looking at Gabriella he spoke, "this is for you." Right before Aaron's fist slammed against Troy's cheek, he felt a massive pain in his head. He fell to the floor next to Troy, unconscious.

Gabriella smashed a vase against his head. She looked at Aaron on the floor, "and that was for Troy."

She rushed to the back of Troy, she lifted his upper body up, so now he was laying on her in pain.

"Troy, baby, are you okay!" She yelled worried.

"Nice going." Troy painfully chuckled as he attempted to stand up.

They both stood up, Troy limping and made their way towards the door. Troy pulled back; he sat on the porch, not being able to walk any further.

"It was my turn to save you." Gabriella said as she put her arm around Troy's waist to keep him stable. Troy reached into his pocket and took out his cell phone and handed it to her.

Gabriella called the police and told them the address and then shut the phone. She looked at Troy.

"You always save me." Gabriella whispered. Troy weakly smiled and slipped down a step on the porch.

"I love you too much to let anyone else." He replied

He scooted over so now he was in between Gabriella's legs. He layed his head on her left leg. He sighed and then closed his eyes. She ran her fingers through his hair soothingly.

A few minutes later she could hear the sirens in the distance.

The police came along with an ambulance. They helped Troy into one carefully.

"I'm going with him." She stated to the police officer.

"Ma'am we'd like you to stay here." He protested.

"Listen. I said I'm going with him!" She yelled.

"Are you family?" He asked.

"I'm his girlfriend and I'm not leaving his side." She said firmly.

"Alright, but before you go, where is this Aaron Brooks you told us about?" He asked as he looked down at some papers.

"He's inside, I knocked him out right be..before he punched Troy." She winced at the painful memory.

"Ma'am, two of my men just went in there. There's nothing in there except shattered glass and a few blood stains." He stated.

Gabriella froze. "H..he got away."

**Ahh! I hope you guys aren't disappointed! I really want REVIEWS for this chapter! Please! I did my very best:) Aaron got away…dun dun dun! By the way I just made up Harbor Bay Institution haha.**


	11. It's Over

**Hey guys, I'm so sorry about the long wait. I've been really really busy and every time I sat down to write this chapter, something came up:( But here it is now so thanks for being patient!**

**Chapter 11- It's Over**

"Your mine! Troy is gone."

"N..no! Leave me alone!" Gabriella sobbed through the thick layers of fog.

Aaron smirked, "It's just you and me Gabs."

"Don't call me that. Troy! Where are you! Troy!" She pleaded again and again.

"_Troy, Troy, Troy! Oh Troy!"_ Aaron mocked. "Troy is no longer with us."

Gabriella squinted through her wet eyes trying to look through the fog. No one in sight. She could hear Aaron's words echoing in her head. She felt something brush her arm and she reflexively jumped around. No one.

"Gaaabrieelllllaaa." Gabriella jumped back around and there he was, black hood covering his face as usual.

"Please.." She pleaded. She could see a smirk playing on his lips. She instinctively turned around and began rapidly sprinting towards the other direction.

"Troy!"

**End of nightmare************

"Gabriella! Sweetheart wake up!" Miss Montez yelled as she worriedly shook her daughter.

Gabriella opened her eyes and jumped up into a sitting position unaware that her mother was there. "Troy!"

"Shhhh." Her mother lulled as she took her daughter in her arms.

"Mo..mom." She said in more of a question as tears started streaming down her eyes.

"Shhh, Gabi it's alright. You were just having a bad dream." She explained.

Gabriella relaxed, relieved that the life like nightmare was over and she was safe in her mother's arms. A few minutes passed and Gabriella pulled away from her mother's clutch.

"Why don't you try and go back to sleep, I'll bring you some hot chocolate." Her mother said.

"No, I want to go to the hospital. I have to see him." She replied as she got up from her bed.

"Honey, it's 4 AM. Troy is probably sleeping." Miss Montez protested as she turned towards her daughter who was headed into the bathroom.

"I won't wake him. I just need to see him." She protested back as she shut the door behind her.

Miss Montez sighed in defeat, not wanting to push her daughter anymore after what she just went through. It's the night right after Aaron escaped. Troy was rushed to the hospital and had to stay there overnight just in case, due to a minor head injury and numerous other injuries in various places of his body. Gabriella insisted on staying overnight with him but everyone kept pushing her to go home and get some rest. They were obviously wrong because she just tried to get some rest and look where it brought her, right back to Troy's side.

She ran down the stairs, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. She opened the door and walked to her car until she was stopped by someone pulling her arm. She jumped in fear.

"Miss, where are you going." The police officer asked. There were two officers stationed at her house just in case Aaron attempted to harass Gabriella again. The police are still searching for him and most of Albuquerque is aware of what happened.

"Oh, officer. You scared me. I'm just going to the hospital." She explained. The officer nodded and walked back towards the police car.

Gabriella arrived at the hospital. As she walked out of the car and locked it she looked around her, cautious as ever. She noted that it was foggy, just like in her nightmare. She walked into the hospital towards the elevators and pressed the little up arrow button and awaited the double doors to open. She got into the elevator and as the doors were about to close, a hand stopped it and a man with a hood over his head walked in. Gabriella could feel her body shaking in fear. Then she froze. Was it him? The man took his hood down and she sighed in relief as she saw it wasn't the boy that she prayed she would never see again.

The doors flew open and she made her way towards the long hallway. She smiled softly at the familiar secretary and then stopped at the door where the person that meant the most to her in the world, was in. She quietly opened the door and there he was. She pulled up a chair and layed her arms and head on the bed beside Troy. She looked up at him, as her loving smile dropped. He had bruises and small cuts on his beautiful face. Some with small cloth on them. She couldn't help but feel like it was her fault that he had all these painful injuries. She got up and kissed his forehead and then returned to her position, with her head lying on her arms.

"_I'm sorry_." She whispered before she closed her eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep.

Gabriella dug her face more into the covers, not caring about the uncomfortable position she was in. She could feel something touching her hair. She opened her eyes and they met with a pair of deep blue, beautiful eyes starring down at her.

"Morning sleeping beauty." He whispered as he stroked her long, chocolatey brown hair.

"Mouwing." She smiled as she realized that because her mouth was covered with the soft sheets, her reply was slurred.

Troy chuckled. She sat up and slumped back on the chair she was sitting in.

"Ooowww." She whined as she felt a pain in her back. "Damn chair."

"You shouldn't have slept like that." Troy replied.

"Thanks Mr. Duuhh!" She said immaturely.

Troy laughed as he scooted over on the bed and patted the space beside him. Gabi smiled and then slowly layed on the bed beside Troy. He put his arm around her waist as she relaxed her head in the crook of his neck.

"There is that better?" He asked.

"Much, thank you." She replied. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, just a little sore."

"I'm sorry." She replied, a flood of guilt running through her once again.

"For what? It's not your fault." Troy assured her.

She didn't say anything. A few seconds passed and she finally decided what to say.

"It is."

"Gabriella, you didn't do anything wrong. This was…_his_ doing, nobody elses." He protested.

Not wanting to argue, she closed her eyes for a few seconds and thought of a change of subject.

"I had a nightmare, so I came here."

"A nightmare about what?" Troy inquired.

"About you…and _him_." She replied.

Troy tensed, remembering what happened the day before. "Well it's over now. He will never hurt you again, not while I'm around. I promise." **(Remember this promise, It's gonna come up again in a future chapter.)**

Gabriella smiled, grateful that she had Troy.

"What time is it anyway?" Troy asked. Gabriella sat up and reached towards her bag, she pulled out her phone and the time read, '8:57.'

"Oh no! I'm late for school, ughh." She said as she jumped out of the bed.

"Gabs, I doubt you're required to go to school today after what happened." He sat up.

"I don't want anything to change because of this Troy. Because if things do change, it will just make things worse and remind me of yesterday." She replied.

"Okay, then I'm going too." He replied as he got up from the hospital bed. Gabriella rushed to his side to hold him up.

"Troy Bolton! Get back in bed now." She said as she sat him back on the bed.

"No, I don't have any serious injuries and the doc said I could leave today. I can live using crutches. My leg's not even broken it's just sprained." He protested.

"You're too sore, you have to walk a lot and you're all bruised up." She fought back.

"I took pain medicine, and I feel fine. I feel just as sore as I would if I just left practice." He said as he grabbed his crutches and threw his clothes around his shoulders and headed towards the bathroom.

"You're so stubborn Bolton." She sighed. "Fine, but I have to go home and change and I'll bring you home to clean up too." She got up and smiled. She walked towards the bathroom door and said through it, "plus, let's see what your mom has to say about this."

Troy walked out of the bathroom, shirtless. "That's low. Your going to my mother." Gabriella smiled. "Can you help me get my shirt on."

Gabriella sat Troy on the bed and put his shirt on for him. She lifted him back up and held his arm just in case, as she led him towards the front desk where a different secretary sat.

"Hi, Troy Bolton is checking out." She told the secretary who nodded.

They walked towards Gabi's car. Gabriella's eyes glued to Troy to see if he could handle walking with the crutches.

Gabriella held the door open for Troy as he slid in and she placed his crutches in the back seat. She got into the driver's seat and started the car.

"Gabs, stop worrying about me. I'll be fine." Troy assured her.

"Yeah, yeah. But I'm staying with you the whole day. No exceptions."

**That was kinda short, but it was more of a fill in chapter! Thanks for reading and please REVIEW:)**


	12. Too Much Attention

**Hey readers, hope you like this next chapter:)**

**Chapter 12- Too Much Attention**

The doors of East High swung open. The hallways were empty and quiet as Troy and Gabriella made their way to their lockers and then to their homeroom.

"Do you think everyone knows about yesterday?" Gabriella asked Troy nervously.

"I don't know, but I hope not. If so, the plan of 'going to school to forget about what happened yesterday' would be a fail." Troy answered.

They got to the door of Miss Darbus' room and paused. Troy turned to Gabriella, awkwardly because of his crutches, "ready?"

She sighed, "gotta be sometime." They walked into the classroom and all eyes were immediately on them.

"Yup, plan failed." Troy whispered.

"Hhh….HI! Gabriella, Troy it's nice to see you!" Miss Darbus said in excitement. Troy and Gabriella both put on fake smiles. Gabriella turned to Troy and whispered, "uh oh. She never calls us by our first names...and she's never this nice."

"Sorry we're late." Troy replied to Miss Darbus.

"No, no, no, no, no! Don't worry about it, just take your seats and relax." The teacher said as she gestured towards the desks. Gabriella helped Troy to his desk and put his crutches under it, trying to ignore the many eyes on her. She went and sunk in her seat, thinking that would help. The time went by slowly to Gabriella. She couldn't help but feel like screaming with all the weird, special treatment she was getting. Even Taylor was treating her like she saved the president's life.

"So, how's school?" Taylor asked as she walked beside Gabriella to their next class.

"Tay, you sound like my mom. You don't have to do that." The brunette replied.

"Do what?" Taylor asked. As if she didn't know.

"You know what."

"Okay okay, I'm sorry. It's just that I'm…or should I say everyone is afraid to ask you or Troy about the incident yesterday. I'm so sorry Gabi." At that Taylor pulled Gabriella into a hug.

"Yir secocating bee." Gabriella said, searching for breath.

Taylor pulled away, "Huh?"

"I said…" Gabriella took a deep breath, "I said you're suffocating me!"

"Oh sorry. I just want you to know that I'm totally here for you! Just name it." Taylor replied with a caring grin.

"Thanks, but I don't want special treatment. I just want everything to go back to the way it was so that me…and Troy can forget about 'it'." Gabriella replied as she opened her locker and just stood there, as if she was deep in thought.

"If that's what will help then I'll try. But I think we should give 'it' another name. We can't keep saying 'it happened' but no one wants to say _his_ name. So it's your choice, what do you wanna call the attack?" Taylor asked curiously.

Gabriella shivered at the word 'attack.' "Just don't call it '_attack_,' that creeps me out. Look Taylor, I'm trying to forget about….whatever you wanna call it."

"I know, I'm sorry. I'll get back to you about the new name another time." Taylor replied.

* * *

"So, how did you get Gabi to let you come today?" Jason asked Troy, who was sitting on the bleachers due to his wounds.

"I almost begged. She even went to my mother." Troy replied.

"No!" Zeke gasped sarcastically.

"She said that she was going to stay with me the whole day, no acceptions. But I guess she forgot about the acception of having different classes." Troy smirked.

"Listen, dude. We're all sorry about what happened." Chad said nervously while starring down at his basketball.

"Thanks. I'm just glad Gabi is okay. She is acting like nothing ever happened and brave, but I know her. She's hiding." Troy said with a thoughtful look in his blue eyes.

"Then you need to help her break her shell before it cracks on its own." Jason said.

"Dude, since when are you so fortune cookie?" Chad said with a smirk.

"My mom likes Chinese!" Jason replied with a frown.

"Jason's right though. If she keeps holding it all in, she's gonna crack." Zeke said seriously.

Troy looked up at them, "I know. That's what I'm afraid of."

* * *

Gabriella pulled up to Troy's driveway. She sat in the car for a few minutes, took a deep breath then got out. She put on a happy face and made her way to the front porch.

The door flew open and Miss Bolton was there with an unsurprised look on her face.

"Hi sweetheart. Why am I not surprised you're here." Mrs. Bolton said with a smile.

Gabriella giggled, "is he resting like he's supposed to be doing?"

"Well he's in his room, he better be." The Caucasian woman replied.

Gabriella smiled at Troy's mom and then made her way to Troy's room. She cracked the door open and peeked in. Troy was sitting up on his bed while successfully making baskets with his mini basketball net on the opposite wall.

"I see you." Troy said, not even looking away from the mini basketball hoop.

Gabriella walked in and sat beside Troy with a big smile on her face. "Even when you're crippled you can't stay away from basketball."

"Woah woah woah, I am not a cripple." Troy replied as he put the mini basketball down.

"Sooo, how yah feelin'?" She asked.

"You should ask yourself that Gabs." He replied.

"What do you mean?"

"You're not acting how you really feel. You don't have to be brave for anyone." Troy said as he pulled her into his chest.

"I'm not. I'm fine." She denied.

"No you're not. You're allowed to be sad or scared or even mad." He said assuringly.

"But if I act any of those ways, people will feel sorry for me and it'll make everything worse." She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.

"Gabs, people already feel sorry for you. You don't have to hide how you're feeling just because you want to forget _him_. Holding everything in, will just make it harder."

"I k..know. But I don't want to make you sad if I cry." She replied, trying to fight back tears.

"Gabriella Montez. If you wanna cry, then cry. The only way that you'll make me sad is if you hide away your feelings for me." He replied as he tightened his grip on her.

She couldn't hold them back any longer. At that, she burst out in tears. She gripped Troy's shirt and began the waterworks, letting everything that's been piled up inside her, fall out. Actually, more like stream out onto Troy's shirt, but he didn't mind. They sat there for a long fifteen minutes, Gabriella sobbing and Troy brushing his hands through her hair and whispering soothing words. She finally stopped and looked up at Troy. Troy wiped away her remaining tears and whispered the three words that would make everything better,

"I love you."

She managed to mumble back, "And I love you." She smiled, "I'm supposed to be taking care of you mister not the other way around."

**End of another chapter:) Sorry it was short but It's really late…and I'm really tired. So R&R- Read and Review. Sorry if there's typos, my allergies are really annoying me and so I probably missed something.**


	13. Recovery

**Hey I'm soooo sorry it's been so long since I've written a new chapter! ****I'm about to start my freshmen year of high school so I've had a lot going on, thanks for being patient:) Here it is, chapter 13! Finally haha.**

**Chapter 13- Recovery**

"Gabs, will you hurry up already! We're gonna be late!"

It's been two and a half months since the traumatizing attack occurred. Aaron has been nowhere in sight and Gabriella has finally stopped being extremely cautious whenever she turned a corner. Gabriella and Troy have really started to forget about Aaron, not really forget, because you can't really forget about someone like him, but they have started to get on with their lives instead of letting Aaron's memory hold them back. Especially Gabriella, she has learned to stop feeling sorry for herself and to stop letting what happened affect her life so much. It's another typical day before school, Troy is at the bottom of Gabriella's stairs yelling for her to come down.

"Five years later!" Troy yelled once again ignoring Miss Montez's giggling in the backround.

Gabriella rapidly ran down the stairs. A smile appeared on her face the moment she locked eyes with Troy.

"Shut up Bolton, I'm a girl! I need my time." She replied as she jumped into his arms to greet him.

"Good morning to you too." He said right before he kissed her tenderly for a few seconds then pulled away, clutching onto Gabriella's arm. He pulled her towards the door, looking back once to yell, "Bye Miss Montez!"

They arrived at school, walking into the big doors of East High. The student body of East High has also forgotten about the attack. New gossip has rained down on them and that was a quee to let go of the past and really live the saying, 'out with the old, in with the new.' Gabriella and Troy were relieved to find only a few eyes on them, instead of all eyes on them as they walked hand in hand down the hall.

"I'll see you in class Gabs." Troy kissed his girlfriend on the cheek then made his way to his locker.

"Okie dokie!" Gabriella replied exuberantly.

"Hey Gabi!" A female voice said.

Gabriella swung around to find Kelsi and Taylor there with smiles drawn on their faces.

"Hey guys!" She replied.

"You seem very…hyper." Taylor said with a smirk.

"I'm just so happy with the way things are going. Especially with me and Troy. My life couldn't get any better right now." Gabi replied as she shut her locker and made her way to her classroom with Taylor and Kelsi on each side of her.

"We're happy for you Gabi." Kelsi said with a smile.

They walked into the classroom. Gabriella's eyes immediately locked with Troy's before she sat down with a sincere smile playing on her lips.

"Alrighty class. We're going to take a trip down to the heart of drama! The theatre!" Miss Darbus said as she gestured for everyone to get up. The class made their way to the auditorium and sat down. Troy on one side of Gabriella and Taylor on the other.

"Miss Evans, Mr. Evans." The teacher called out and immediately Sharpay and Ryan were standing up from their seats and making their way to center stage.

"Heeeeello!" Sharpay rang with a wide smile. "Me and my brother Ryan will be performing a musical number for you guys! I hope you like it!"

"Oh my gosh, did Sharpay Evans just say she hopes WE like her performance. I'm surprised she didn't say we BETTER like her performance." Troy whispered to Gabriella with a chuckle.

Gabriella giggled then directed her attention back to the stage.

Ryan started out singing, "we're soarin', flyin' there's not a star in heaven that we can't reach."

Then Sharpay followed with, "if we're trying, so we're breaking free."

The whole song Gabriella and Troy were outstanded. The duo sounded really good, and they were surprised the song wasn't an upbeat show-off song. After Sharpay and Ryan finished, the class broke out into applause. The siblings got off the stage and returned to their seats with small smiles playing on their lips. Gabriella couldn't help it, she turned towards Troy and whispered, "I'll be right back." Troy nodded and Gabriella got up and started walking towards Sharpay and Ryan. Sharpay and Ryan saw her coming. Ryan had a small smile on his face and Sharpay was just blank.

"You guys were really good. I've never heard you sing like that before. It was beautiful." Gabriella said with a smile on her face. She prepared herself for what she thought was coming. She thought Sharpay was gonna yell at her and tell her to go to hell or something but Sharpay didn't say anything.

Ryan smiled, "thanks."

Gabriella turned around to go back to her seat when she was stopped by someone pulling her arm gently.

"Hey Gabriella," Gabriella turned around to see Sharpay standing there with a smile. "Thanks."

'_Holy crap did Sharpay Evans just say thanks to me! I don't know what has gotten into her but I'm liking it!'_ Was all Gabriella could think.

After a few seconds of starring, the brunette blinked and replied, "your welcome Sharpay." At that, Gabi smiled and made her way back to her seat.

"What was that all about?" Troy questioned as Gabriella sat down.

She smiled, then turned to Troy, "I think that was the start of a new found friendship."

Lunch approached quickly, Troy and Gabriella were sitting at their now usual table. Gabriella felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Sharpay standing there with a nervous smile on her lips.

"Can we talk?" Sharpay said sofly.

"Sure." Gabriella replied as she looked at Troy, who was completely stunned, same as everybody else at the table . His mouth was wide open and his eyes were in shock. She kissed his cheek to take him out of his daze and then got up and followed Sharpay to an empty table. She noted that Sharpay was wearing a bright pink shirt and bedazzled jeans with pink wedges. They both sat down and Sharpay spoke first.

"I know your probably surprised. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about what happened to you and Troy and I'm sorry about how I treated you in the past."

"It's okay Sharpay, thank you." Gabriella replied.

"I was just wondering, if maybe you wanted to sleepover my house tonight? Since it's Friday. I have a pool too. It will be fun." The blonde asked with a hopeful smile.

"I don't mean to be rude, but is this a trick?" Gabriella questioned suspiciously.

Sharpay laughed, "I know this is sudden, but I've had…what should I call it….a revelation! I've realized that I'm gonna go nowhere being a bitch to everyone. You've never been mean to me Gabriella, I've always been mean to you. So see this as an apology." Sharpay said sincerely.

"Okay, that'd be great then. I came here with Troy so.."

"Meet me outside after the bell rings. I have my car." Sharpay said as she got up. They stood there for a few seconds. Sharpay suddenly leaned over and hugged Gabriella hesitantly. Gabriella was shocked at first but then she returned the hug, smiled and then made her way back to Troy.

"Gabs, please tell me I'm mistaken. Did you just hug Sharpay Evans?!?!" Troy asked.

"She's trying Troy so I should try too. By the way I'm not going home with you today okay." She stated.

"Why not?"

"I'm going with Sharpay, we're having a sleepover." Gabriella replied casually.

"Well make sure you have your phone near you." Troy said as he shook his head in astonishment and returned to his lunch.

"Why?" Gabriella replied.

"If she threatens to stab you, call me immediately!"

**End of another chapter! What do you think will happen at the sleepover? Do you think Sharpay's actions towards Gabi are sincere or are just a trick? REVIEW and tell me what you wanna see happen next!**


	14. Unexpected Friendships

**Okay..where to start. First off, I'm so sorry to the people who actually followed this story! It just didn't seem like people were that interested in it so I put it on hiatus. Summer is almost here so I thought I'd give this another shot. But I might put it back on hiatus if I feel it's still not going anywhere, so review! Thanks so much to the people who actually reads this, it means so much to me. **

**Well, what you all have been waiting for…enjoy:)**

**Chapter 14- Unexpected Friendships**

Gabriella was awestruck as she gaped at the amazing, huge, elegant, white mansion that stood before her. As she walked up to the front doors behind Sharpay, she couldn't help but notice the giant "E" on the rectangular door mat, the first letter of the Evans' last name.

"Mom, I'm home and I brought a friend!" Sharpay yelled as they entered the house.

Gabriella smiled as a middle aged woman with short, blonde hair walked down the long hallway.

"Hello sweetheart, who's your friend?" She spoke with elegance.

"This is Gabriella. Gabriella, this is my mom." Sharpay introduced.

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Evans." Gabriella spoke shyly.

"You as well dear. Would you guys like any beverages or snacks? I can get Joseph to take care of it," said Sharpay's mother.

Sharpay turned her flawless face towards Gabriella, giving her an inquiring look to answer her mother's question.

"Um, I'm fine thank you." Gabriella said politely.

"Okay, well we're gonna go up to my room." Sharpay said as she grabbed Gabriella's wrist and pulled her up a large, winding staircase.

As Gabi entered Sharpay's room, the only thought that came to mind was_ Pink_. Pink curtains, pink bedspread, pink pretty much everything except the walls were white.

"You have a very _pink_ room Sharpay." The brunette commented as she took a seat on the bed Sharpay had recently situated herself upon.

"Thanks, pink is my fave color after all."

"Look, Sharpay…I need to ask you something." Gabriella said nervously as she began to bite her bottom lip.

"Okay, shoot." The blonde replied.

"Why did you really ask me to hang out?" Gabriella asked as she set her overnight bag, that they picked up on the way, on the floor next to the large bed.

"Honestly, I feel bad about how I've treated you and Troy…and pretty much everyone else. I only acted like I was better than everyone else because I wanted to be. But when I heard about what happened with you, Troy, and that sick son of a bitch Aaron, I realized I acted cold towards you guys for no reason and now it was time to stop because you've been through enough." Sharpay responded with a sigh.

Gabriella flinched at the mention of _Aaron. _ She stayed silent for a few seconds, taking in everything Sharpay just told her. As she glanced up at Sharpay's face, she realized the blonde who had always been so mean to her, was being sincere and if Sharpay was trying to start over and be friends with her, then it was only in her kind nature to do the same.

"Thank you Sharpay, but you don't have to be nice to me out of pity about what happened…" Gabriella trailed off.

"Oh don't worry. I'm not. You're a nice person Gabriella and I decided that if I want to be nice and actually make real friends, you should be the first one." Sharpay said bluntly.

Gabriella smiled as she relaxed into her position on the big bed, "okay then, let's be friends."

"Yay! So what do you want to talk about friend?" Sharpay said excitedly.

"First off, you don't still have the hots for my boyfriend do you?" Gabriella inquired.

Sharpay laughed, "nope, don't worry, he's all yours. I actually have my eyes on someone else.."

"Really, who who?" The brunette questioned with a large grin.

"Zeke…Zeke Baylor."

"Oh my gosh! I know him, he's a friend of Troy's. Good choice, he's so nice!" Gabi replied as she nudged Sharpay.

"Thanks, he's been so sweet to me. He's baked me so many things, and I never really appreciated it 'til now. I tried one of his cookies a few days ago and I haven't been able to stop thinking about him!" She blushed.

"Aww, well he obviously likes you. You should make a move, tell him you feel the same way." Gabriella advised.

"I'm going to soon, as long as I can pluck up the courage." Sharpay admitted.

"Well I'm sure it will go great, you guys would look adorable together!" Gabriella exclaimed.

This really was the start of a wonderful friendship.

Gabriella walked through the doors of East High with a wide smile on her face. So far, everything was going great. She made a new friend and her and Troy were doing great. The only thing that was not so great was that Aaron was yet to be found. Which meant that she was still in danger, along with Troy. But she was trying not to let that get to her. She would not let that psycho ruin her life or control her emotions.

She strolled joyfully to her locker and spun in the combination. She began to pull out the stuff she needed for her first few classes as she felt two very well known hands cover her eyes.

"Guess who." The voice whispered.

"Troooy." She sung as she turned around and met his dazzling blue orbs.

"Good Morning beautiful." He smiled.

"Morning." She replied as she met him hallway for a sweet kiss.

"Not something I wanna see this early in the day." Came an approaching voice.

"Chadster!" Exclaimed Gabriella as she jumped in his arms for a hug. You see, as Gabriella and Troy's relationship grew, so did Gabriella and Chads. They became close friends, like brother and sister.

"Hey guys!" Taylor greeted as she joined the group.

"Hey Tay." Troy and Gabriella both replied as Chad just stood there smiling.

"Earth to Chad!" Gabriella said as she waved her hand in front of his face.

"Oh sorry, hey Taylor. You look nice today." He said as he mentally kicked himself, _you look nice today, what the heck is that!_

"Hi Chad." The pretty African American girl replied with a shy smile.

Just then, the bell for homeroom rang. Gabriella shut her locker and took Troy's awaiting hand as they begun to walk in the direction of Ms. Darbus' classroom, followed by Chad and Taylor.

Lunch came by in a blur. Gabriella, Troy, Taylor, and Chad were all seated at a table, different then what people expected. But lately, no one was doing what they were expected to do. As Gabriella took a bite of her sandwich she saw Sharpay approaching their table, but she wasn't alone. She was holding hands with none other than Zeke Baylor.

_Wow she works fast.. _Gabriella thought as she smiled at Sharpay.

"Hi guys, can we sit with you?" Sharpay said shyly as Zeke did the "guy handshake" with Troy and Chad.

"Yah sure Shar. Hey Zeke." Gabriella replied as Zeke waved to her and Taylor.

"So what's going on between you and Evans." Chad blurted as he chewed a massive amount of food. Only Chad.

"Chad!" Taylor said as she hit the back of his afro covered head.

"Ow, it was just a question!" Chad whined.

"Actually, me and Sharpay are together now." Zeke stated as he smiled proudly and put his arm around his new girlfriend.

Gabriella gave Sharpay a look and Sharpay smiled back knowingly.

"Congrats man." Troy said and patted Zeke's back.

All six of them smiled as they continued to eat their lunches.

Gabriella looked up at all five of her new friends and couldn't stop the smile that graced her face. She was thinking exactly what the others were; _this is definitely the start of something new._

**OhMyGawd. Okay so I was really nervous writing this because this story was on hiatus for sooo long. I really hope you guys liked it and aren't disappointed. And don't worry, it's gonna get a lot juicier. You don't expect me to keep you guys interested by keeping it all joyous, did you? Haha well get ready for the drama a little later and thanks to all the readers! I'm seriously begging you guys, PLEASE PLEASE (again)PLEASE REVIEW!**


	15. Fear

**Okay so I STILL haven't gotten much reviews so I'm gonna be in denial and blame that on maybe you guys got confused because originally chapter 14 was an author's note but then I deleted that and put a real chapter. I'm gonna continue and maybe if I'm lucky you guys will seem slightly interested by reviewing? Please guys, I really need to know you're still interested in this story or else there's really no point to continuing it. Thanks!**

**Chapter 15- Fear**

Fear. A four letter word to describe a terrible emotion that no one wants to feel. It can be felt during times when you're scared of doing something because of a bad past experience, when you're watching a scary movie, or when you're genuinely scared for your life, put in a situation that you wish you were never put into. Gabriella Montez was put through an unfortunate episode of fear when her life and the life of her love's was put on the line that fateful day when she walked into the house of Aaron Brooks to return his history book. Damn history book. After that disastrous day, she never thought she would be put through that amount of fear again.

Boy, was she wrong.

* * *

"Hi Troy!" Maria Montez yelled from her place on the porch, skillfully watching as her only daughter sat in the passenger seat of her boyfriend's car…_for far too long_ thought Maria.

Gabriella groaned as she shot a glare at her mother who only smiled back knowingly, "So you're going to pick me up in a few hours to go to Sharpay's right?"

"Yup, everyone else is gonna meet us there." Troy responded as he leaned in to give her a peck on the cheek, aware of the middle aged woman who was watching closely a few strides away.

It has been 2 months since the day Sharpay and Zeke officially started dating and became friends with Gabriella, Troy, Taylor, and Chad. But now, it wasn't just six. The close knit group of six soon became a group of eight as two more teenagers came into the picture. Kelsi Nielson, a shy composer easily folded into the group. She had become friends with Gabriella and soon with everyone else. Then Jason Cross, eventually he followed in Troy, Chad, and Zeke's footsteps and went against the status quo. Now the eight teenagers were closer than ever. Sharpay had invited everybody to stay the night at her place that Friday night. It wasn't anything special, for ever since the eight people became friends, get togethers were common.

Gabriella got out of the car, waved one last time to Troy and headed towards her awaiting mother.

"That wasn't nice Mom. You know me and Troy are responsible. What do you think was gonna happen? We'd get busy in the back of his truck!" Gabriella exaggerated.

"Language Gabriella. And yes I know you are responsible, but sometimes, a mom's got to be a mom…and oh wait, I am a mom!" The older version of Gabriella said with sarcasm in her playful tone.

"Yah, yah." Gabriella responded as she ran up to her bedroom to pack up her overnight bag.

* * *

"MOM! Troy's here, I'm leaving!"

"Have a nice time Gabi and be-have." Maria replied to her daughter.

"I will Mother, love you!" The brunette replied as she skidded towards the door, a big bag strapped around her shoulder.

"Love you too!" Came her Mother's reply as she slammed the door and made her way to Troy's car with an excited smile.

Gabi threw her bag in the back of the car and hopped into the passenger's seat.

"Hey babe, ready?" Troy asked as he started up the car.

"Mmhmm." She replied as she pecked him on the lips and settled into her seat.

Five minutes into the drive, Gabriella was starring out the window. The sun was beginning to set and dark gray clouds were coming in as she watched the scenery go by, she suddenly had this eerie feeling in the pit of her stomach..like something was going to happen tonight. Something big.

"Hey, are you alright, you seem kind of out of it?" Came Troy's concerned voice.

"Yah...I'm fine." She smiled as she laced their fingers together.

They pulled up to the white house of Sharpay Evans. They departed the car and walked up the long walkway to the front door.

'Diiing dooong'

The whole house chimed as Troy pressed his pointer finger to the doorbell. As they waited, Gabriella clung to Troy's arm, looking around the dimly lit front lawn of the Evans' mansion. She couldn't help but feel like someone was watching her.

"Hey lovebirds! Come on in!"

Then Sharpay's enthusiastic voice broke her out of her thoughts. She shook off the feeling, not wanting it to ruin her awaiting night of fun.

"Hey Shar." She smiled as she and Troy entered the threshold.

"Yo, my brotha from anotha motha!" Chad.

"Hey Chad, the other guys here yet?" Troy replied as he did the 'guy handshake' with his best friend.

"Hey, who you callin' a guy!" Taylor said as she pushed aside Chad to hug both Troy and Gabriella.

They all laughed, retreating to the massive basement in the mansion that was equipped with a pool table, theatre room, and a full table of snacks. Oh yah, tonight would be fun.

Or so they thought.

As they all walked downstairs they were greeted with a smiling Kelsi, Jason, and Zeke. The guys did their handshakes while the girls hugged and gushed about how fun the night would be.

"So guys, what do you want to do first?" Jason asked as he plopped down on the nearest couch.

"Let's play truth or dare!" Yelled Sharpay.

They all agreed and gathered around in front of the big screen projector and sofas.

"Who wants to go first?" Kelsi questioned.

"Me!" Sharpay took the opportunity.

Groans were heard from around the room as Sharpay stuck out her tongue and proceeded to think about who her victim would be.

"Chad. Truth or dare?" The blonde smirked.

"Dare. Duh." He replied as he crossed his arms in preparation.

"It's about time you and Taylor got together. Show her how you really feel."

Chad didn't have to look to see that Taylor's jaw had dropped the same as his, completely in astonishment.

"Sharpay tha-" he was cut off by Sharpay's wagging finger.

"Uh uh uh. You know the rules. You have to do it." She replied.

With a huff and glare directed at the blonde, Chad stood up from his position on the floor, pulling Taylor along with him.

"Chad, what is she tal-" She was interrupted as his lips came in contact with hers. Taylor could feel her insides melting as his warm lips kissed her for the first time.

They pulled apart, both with blank looks on their faces. Before anything could be spoken, the whole gang broke out in wolf whistles and hoorays.

Chad and Taylor diverted each others eyes as they both sat down in their previous spots on the soft white carpet, signaling for the game to go on.

"I wanna go ne-" Jason was cut off. That seemed to be happening a lot lately. Suddenly, all the lights in the house went off. The only light was of the illuminated moon in the night sky.

"What the hell?" Came Sharpay's voice. All seven other people watched her silhouette get up and start rummaging around a shelf in the bar on the other side of the basement. Seconds later, a click was heard and a light shined towards the group of friends.

"Okay, I have a few flashlights." Sharpay stated as she handed one to a few people in the group. "I have no idea why the power turned off."

"Maybe it's just a broken fuse." Chad assumed.

Even in the darkness, you could see the quizzical looks directed at Chad.

"What, I'm not that dumb." Chad scoffed.

Suddenly, Gabriella had that eerie feeling again. Like something was going to happen. Something bad. Troy noticed as she clung tighter to his arm.

"Hey don't worry. It's only the dark." He tried to comfort her.

"It's not that, Troy. I have a bad feeling." She whispered as she looked into his deep concerned eyes.

"Don't worry, I'm here." He kissed her forehead affectionately, slightly easing her discomfort.

"Okay, I'll go upstairs and call the electrical company. I think it's in the phone book my parents left here."

Zeke stood up with Sharpay, deciding to go with her. They walked up the stairs, then a few seconds later, they came back down.

"That's weird..the basement doors locked." Sharpay said.

They all jumped as a loud thunder erupted from outside. A storm was near. The rest of the gang stood up.

"Maybe we can get out through the doors leading outside from here." Troy said, pointing to the glass double doors on the opposite side of where they were.

As they made their way towards the doors, a figure came into sight.

A figure, most likely a person, approached the doors.

"Sharpay, who's that? Are you sure your parents aren't home?" Taylor asked, fear evident in her tone.

"I'm sure. I have no idea who that is." The blonde replied with the same tone.

All eight of them watched as the person turned the knob of one of the doors and slowly slipped inside.

"Who the hell are you!" Sharpay yelled.

The figure was clearer as it stepped into the path of the moon's light. It was a hooded man.

Gabriella shivered knowingly, while no one else noticed.

The man reached his arm back and locked the doors, pulling out a dark object from his pants.

"Nobody's going anywhere." The familiar voice said as he slipped off his hood and revealed himself, pointing the now apparent gun at the eight frightened teenagers.

Gabriella felt her stomach drop as she looked into the eyes of her worst nightmare. For right in front of her was none other than Aaron Brooks, with wet matted hair and a big, red gash on his face from his hairline to the tip of his mouth.

Gabriella only felt one thing as Troy pushed her behind his arm and held her hand tighter; complete and utter _fear_.


	16. Hold On

**I'm so in denial it's not even funny. I keep saying that if you guys don't review and show me you want me to continue this then I'm going to stop with this story. But, I can't seem to just let it go. I have this weird determination to complete this story; even if it is an utter failure haha. I could really use your reassurance guys, please review.**

**Chapter 16- Hold On**

_Recap_

"_Nobody's going anywhere." The familiar voice said as he slipped off his hood and revealed himself, pointing the now apparent gun at the eight frightened teenagers._

_Gabriella felt her stomach drop as she looked into the eyes of her worst nightmare. For right in front of her was none other than Aaron Brooks, with wet matted hair and a big, red gash on his face from his hairline to the tip of his mouth._

_Gabriella only felt one thing as Troy pushed her behind his arm and held her hand tighter; complete and utter fear._

Numb. Yes that was the right word. Gabriella felt absolutely numb as she attempted to squeeze Troy's hand back in reassurance that she was okay. But she wasn't. _Not again, please not again, _was what she kept telling herself as she watched Aaron Brooks stare at her.

"Hello Gabs." One simple nickname and Troy was lunging at Aaron. One gunshot was heard as Gabriella felt her grasp on Troy's hand disappear. She closed her eyes, wishing it all to go away. That it was a dream. A very bad dream. But as soon as she heard that one gunshot, her eyes shot open. She looked towards Aaron, who was lowering his arm from the aim of the ceiling, and towards Troy.

He shot the ceiling.

Troy was halfway hunched over, having instinctively ducked at the sound of the gun being fired.

"Uh uh uh. I wouldn't do that if I were you. Keep a distance Bolton, or I'll just have to do it forcibly. I think underground in a cemetery is far away enough." Aaron said with a snicker.

"You son of a bitch, I'm going to rip you ap-"

Troy was cut off as Aaron pulled down the lock and secured the gun to a position that could cause deadly consequences and said, "testy testy. I'd calm down and back away if I were you, I'm not a patient person."

"Troy, please." Gabriella whispered, just loud enough to be heard. She took a few steps forward and pulled Troy's arm.

Troy backed up with Gabriella, protectively standing half way in front of her with his right arm around her waist from the front.

Aaron tensed, jealously rising in the pit of his stomach, giving him the sudden urge to rip off Troy's head right there and then.

Aaron took a breath then focused his attention to the whole group, only now noticing they were all standing there dumbstruck and terrified, not knowing what to do.

"Everyone! On the couches, now! Except…Gabriella." The dirty blonde said with a smirk.

Troy growled, the animal inside him coming out ferociously, "no way in hell."

Aaron chuckled maliciously, then aimed the black weapon at Troy's skull.

"Let her go or I'll pull the trigger. Don't doubt me _Bolton._" He spat, "don't worry, I don't plan on taking her anywhere. I wanna have some fun with you and her little friends first."

"Troy, please just let me go. I'll be fine. Trust me." Gabriella pleaded as she looked into Troy's now sad eyes.

"No, I can't. I don't trust him with you. Gabs, please. He's a psycho, you can't honestly believe you'll be fine." Troy argued.

"He won't hurt me. Why would he go through all this then just kill me? If it means you all will be okay, then I have to take one for the team. This is all my fault anyways." She argued back.

Aaron watched with amusement as Troy and Gabriella had a silent conversation a few feet away from him. He couldn't exactly hear what they were saying, but he could tell she wanted to go with him, because of course, she loved him, not Troy.

"No baby it's not your fault, its his! Please don't do this. I ca-can't lose you." Troy begged as he squeezed her hand tighter.

"You won't lose me, I promise. I love you, now go with the others on the couch." She directed as she embraced her everything tightly, kissed his neck as she felt him kiss her forehead, and push him lightly toward the couches where the other teens were watching frightened.

"I'm glad you've come to your senses baby." Aaron smirked. Gabriella flinched at the word 'baby' thinking it sounded a lot better coming from Troy's mouth. She went and stood next to Aaron, looking at her love and her friends in sorrow.

Aaron took a hold of Gabriella's arm and guided her to the large bathroom in the vast basement, carefully making sure no one followed or even moved.

"What are you do-"

He shoved Gabriella into the bathroom, "don't worry, I just don't want you to watch your friends die." He slammed the door, quickly locking it behind him.

"NO NO NO PLEASE! AARON! COME BACK NOW! PLEASE PLEASE NO NO!" She started weeping uncontrollably, she could feel her tears stinging her cheeks. She loved her friends, they were her support. But most of all, one person was on her mind. Troy. No, Aaron can't kill Troy. He can't. Because if Troy died, she might as well be dead too, she thought as she slammed her fist against the door repeatedly. Her thrusts getting softer and softer as her sobs grew.

"So, who's first?" Aaron said as he approached the group of seven.

"For what?" Sharpay growled as she narrowed her eyes at the boy who ruined one of her best friends' life.

"To die." Aaron smirked.

As if on que, Sharpay, Kelsi, and Taylor ducked back behind the couches at the same time Troy, Chad, Jason, and Zeke all threw pillows at Aaron, then tackled him. It never occurred to Aaron that the seven friends could form a plan in the short time he and Gabriella were away.

Aaron was blind sighted as the pillows came at him, his only instinct to shoot his weapon continuously, right before he was pinned to the floor.

* * *

The sound of numerous gunshots caused Gabriella to shoot her head up and awake from her miserable reverie.

_No._

She felt as if her heart literally broke into a million pieces, except there was no Troy to put them back together.

* * *

Aaron opened his eyes to Troy, Chad, and Zeke. But wait weren't there four?

Jason Cross lay sprawled against the carpeted floor, clutching his side in pain.

The three boys that were holding Aaron down glanced back. Sharpay, Taylor, and Kelsi jumped out from their hiding spots, rushing to aid Jason.

"At least I shot one." Aaron muttered.

But before the three boys could turn their attention back on Aaron, he simultaneously hit each one of them. He flung his elbows out to hit Troy and Chad in the face, then kicked off Zeke.

They all gasped for breath as they felt the blow of the hit. Damn, did this kid know karate or something?

Aaron jumped to a standing position, searching for his gun rapidly.

He glanced up, only to be shocked.

His deadly weapon was in the hands of Kelsi Nielson.

"This is for Jason." Kelsi whispered as she aimed the gun at Aaron's shoulder. She wanted to stop and harm him, not kill him.

A piercing shot rang out. All that was heard afterwards was a menacing chuckle.

Aaron laughed as he looked down at his slightly grazed shoulder.

"Is that the best you can do?" He spat before surprisingly sprinting towards the basement doors that he entered through.

Kelsi didn't have the guts to shoot again, so she just dropped the gun as the guys hurriedly ran after Aaron. They entered the rain, furiously searching for any signs of the sick bastard who ruined their fun night. After searching for a few more minutes, they retreated back inside.

* * *

Gabriella flinched as she heard another gunshot ring through her ears. She choked back a sob as she touched her fingers towards the door.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

A few minutes later. She heard a noise. She looked up at the bathroom window, seeing a figure approach it through the rain.

Her teary eyes partially blinded her to exactly who it was that was now attempting at opening the window.

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard. She covered her eyes as shards of glass came flying at her.

Someone had broken the window.

"Troy?" She asked hopefully.

All she heard was a sickening snicker as the culprit came through the window and pulled down his hood.

"_Aaron. _You bastard, what did you do with my friends? If you hurt them, I swear to God I will torture you for every ounce of pain you put me and them through!" She spat as she stood from her position on the bathroom floor.

"Shhh, Gabriella. You're coming with me." He said right before he punched her in the face.

Gabriella gasped in horror as she became partially unconscious.

Aaron took a hold of Gabriella around her waist and began to pull her through the window.

She was completely numb, not being able to find the fight in herself anymore.

"Hold on Gabs, I'm coming!" She faintly heard from outside the bathroom door, that she could barely see through the rain and the shattered window that was getting further and further away as Aaron dragged her.

"Troy?" She whispered, right before slipping into unconsciousness.

_Hold on Gabs. Hold on. _

**OHMYGAWD. Okay so that was really fun to write haha. I was gonna just have Gabriella rescued by Troy and then everything would be okay blah blah but I thought that was too..typical. The terror of Aaron Brooks is yet to be finished! I'll try and update soon but more reviews=more motivation=sooner updates! So review please! ITS NOT HARD. JUST ONE CLICK. REVIEW! PLEASE? Lol I'm going crazy.**


	17. Darkness

**Hey guys, I'm really scared of what you'll think of this chapter! It's very important to the story and I put a lot of thought into it, so I hope you like it! All I ask for is a REVIEW:)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical, kay? Kay.**

**Chapter 17- Darkness**

Gabriella's POV, the day after.

Darkness.

Darkness was all around me as I opened my eyes slowly. I lifted my hand to touch my aching cheek, only to pull it away quickly.

_Ow._

Why the hell can't I see anything and why the hell does my cheek feel swollen?

Then it hit me. _Aaron._

I felt my body tense up from the slight thought of him. As soon as his name entered my mind, everything that happened came back to me like a strike of lightening.

The rain. My friends. The gunshots.

Oh God, please no. It had to have been a nightmare, a terrible nightmare. The slight aching of my cheek reminds me of reality, but no. There is no pain. Because if the pain was there, then it was all real. My friends are gone. _Troy_ is gone.

But wait, he can't be. I suddenly remember his voice. Telling me to 'hold on'. I swear I heard him say that before everything turned black. He's still out there. He will save me. I can _feel_ it.

I awaken out of my daze when I hear a noise from nearby. Then suddenly, a burst of light appears and I find myself squinting from the sudden change. My eyes start to adjust as I see a door, where the lights coming from. Then, as if on que, a figure steps through it, I whimper in fright.

"Don't worry Gabs. I'm here."

That isn't the angelic voice I know and love. That's the terrible voice I hear in my nightmares.

Aaron.

* * *

Regular POV, five days after.

"Troy, honey, you need to eat something." Lucille Bolton said as she sat at the edge of her son's bed.

Troy squirmed from underneath the covers and groaned.

"Please Troy, you've been sulking in your room for days now. I haven't seen you eat properly since what happened. What would _Gabriella_ think?" She immediately regretted it.

Troy froze at the sound of _her_ name. The name that was in his thoughts every second of every day. The name that belonged to the person he longed for. The person he loved.

"I'm sorry sweetheart. I didn't mea…I didn't wa…please I ju-" The middle aged woman hesitated.

"Stop. Just leave." Came the strained yet dangerous voice of Troy. He didn't mean to talk to his mother like that, but the pain that came from that one name completely clouded his judgment.

Lucille did as her son wished and got up from her position on the bed. She walked to the door, glancing back at her son once more, feeling the same sorrow she had been feeling ever since that fateful day.

Troy opened his eyes from underneath the covers as he heard the door close, informing him that his mother had left. All he could see was darkness. The blinds were shut and there were no lights on. Plus he was under his bedspread, hiding away from the world. Gabriella had been missing for five days with no leads on where Aaron could have taken her. The first few days, Troy was out and about, searching every place possible for Aaron to have taken her, but no luck. The police had no luck either; Aaron Brooks was nowhere to be found, thus leaving him no leads to finding Gabriella. Troy could feel his insides burning at the mere thought of Gabriella in danger. Aaron was most likely making her life a living hell, and there was nothing he could do about it.

And that killed him.

Troy couldn't find the will to get out of bed, for all he wanted to do was succumb into the darkness. If he just stayed in bed, he'd be forced to think about Gabriella, thus causing him more pain then he'd ever felt before.

Because if Gabriella was in pain, somewhere, he wanted to be in pain too.

* * *

Gabriella brushed her fingers against her slowly healing cheek, flinching at the slight ache.

She was in a lightly lit room with a small, rusted bed in the corner. The small lamp on the bedside table protected her from the frightening darkness. She reached down to pull at the metal chain that was wrapped around her ankle, knowing there was no use. Her eyes shot up as she heard the sound of footsteps. She backed up instinctively so her back was against the rusty bars of the bed and her left shoulder was pushed up against the poorly painted wall.

Aaron made his way into the room, a small tray balanced on his right hand.

"Dinner!" He smiled as he walked toward the bed and sat himself on the edge of it.

Gabriella, not being able to deny her grumbling stomach, reached out for the tray desperately. For the first two days she refused the food he offered her, but now, she found she couldn't refuse it anymore, unless she wanted to starve to death.

Aaron watched Gabriella scarf down the food with a smirk on his face, "it's not as good as last night's but I was never a good cook."

"Shut up." She said quickly as she cast a glare at him. "This is not a game of house. I'm not eating this crap for any other reason than that I don't want to starve to death." Gabriella only had one reason as to why she even cared about starving to death; Troy. She could hear his voice in her head telling her to 'hold on' and hold on she would. She was determined to stay alive until he came to rescue her. He would come. She knew it. But as the time drew on, she felt her will power diminishing.

Without Troy, she felt weak.

Aaron chuckled, but Gabriella continued. She suddenly stopped eating, ashamed of herself. Her eyes turned into slits as she shoved the tray away. Then as quickly as that occurred, her eyes softened and tears began to form.

"Please Aaron, let me go! You've done enough! You've completely broken me, what more is there to do?" She broke down.

"Oh Gabriella. I didn't want this to happen. We are going to be together, so just stop denying it and embrace it." He said as he inched closer to her and reached his hand out to her.

"NO! Don't touch me! Troy will find me! He'll kill you, you sick son of a bitch! I hate you! You ruined my life! Please just let me go!" She yelled as the tears came down frantically.

"Troy. Is. Dead. How many times do I have to tell you that? He didn't care about you like I do, I love you." Aaron lied.

"No he's not. I heard him. I know I did." She replied, referring to when she heard him say 'hold on Gabs' right before she became unconscious.

"That's your imagination." Aaron spat.

"No. I know what I heard, he'll come for me. I love him, don't you see! I don't love you, yet alone like you! How could you say you love me when you're doing this to me?" She yelled.

"Shut up! You love me and you know it! So shut up you stupid ungrateful bitch!" Aaron said as he pounced on her. He pinned her arms to either side of her face and kissed her ferociously.

Gabriella squirmed under his arms, trying desperately to get out of his grip. She wanted to throw up as she felt Aaron attempt to stick his tongue down her throat. Not being able to get her hands free, she went to plan B. She jutted her knee upwards, jabbing Aaron right in his manhood.

He pulled back and held his member in pain. Gabriella took this as her chance to kick him in the face, causing him to fall off the bed.

She jumped up from the bed, only to be stopped. The chain around her ankle stopped her from escaping.

A dry chuckle was heard as Aaron stood up from the floor, holding his throbbing head.

"You didn't think it'd be that easy, did you? You're not going anywhere." He said before he slapped her in the face, walked back towards the door, shot one last menacing glance at her than shut the door.

Gabriella held her face in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably. What if next time she couldn't get him off of her? What if he tried to force her into much more intense actions? What if he tried to rape her?

Her head was spinning. She had to get out of there before he tortured her in that worst way possible. She could feel it coming. Every time Aaron walked into the room, the way his eyes roamed her body hungrily, the way he touched her or forcibly kissed her. The inevitable was approaching, and that scared the shit out of her. No way was she going to let him take that from her.

Her virginity was not for Aaron to steal, it was meant for someone else. It was meant for Troy.

** Okay, so I know this wasn't that long, but bear with me. I think I'm going to up the action on this story and put more intense stuff in it, like talk of sex if you catch my drift. I was gonna keep this innocent but I think it'd be better if it was more matured? Review if you have any problems with that. This was just kind of a filler before the big stuff happens. I just wanted to show you Gabriella's situation and how Troy is coping without Gabi. I know it kind of sucked, sorry! Please review and I'll try and update soon!**


	18. Waiting

**Okay, so I know that the end of the previous chapter was a little weird, but I do everything for a purpose. Just bear with me guys, love you all for sticking with this and thank you to those of you who reviewed...and those of you who didn't, please do so now!**

**Chapter 18- Waiting**

"_Troooooy!" Yelled his beloved Gabriella. He was standing at the edge of a black hole, reaching his arm out to her, trying to stop her from falling. Falling to her end, to his end. She was falling further and further into the black abyss, hand stretched desperately. But it was no use. The harder he tried to reach her, the further she fell into the blackness._

_He couldn't save her._

_The thought struck him like a bullet to the heart. He could feel the tears falling from his eyelids, his damp cheeks burning. She was becoming more difficult to see, then finally, her beautiful face was enveloped completely into the blackness. _

"_Nooo!" Troy yelled in agony, begging the higher powers to give him his Gabs back. _

_Then, suddenly, the black hole disappeared. The hole that stripped him of his heart vanished. He closed his eyes, willing that this torture would end. That his life, his love, would come back to him. _

_A menacing chuckle caused him to snap his now dull blue eyes open. He looked up from his kneeling position on the cold, hard floor and was met with a pair of black eyes._

_Black eyes that matched the black hole that stole his Gabriella._

_Black eyes that belonged to Aaron Brooks._

"_Troy, I'm waiting." The angelic voice of Gabriella whispered in his mind._

_End of nightmare********_

Troy shot up from his laying position on his bed. Chest heaving and heart pounding.

_Gabriella._

His chest convulsed and he could feel his heavy heart dropping further and further.

_Troy, I'm waiting. _The thought echoed in his mind. Every night, the same dream. The same end. Every dream, he could hear Gabriella's voice echoing in his head, _Troy I'm waiting._

He sat up, back against the headboard of his bed. He kept replaying the words in his head. The last words of his love, well the last words in his nightmare of course.

What did it mean? What was she waiting for? He couldn't put a point to it. It had been two weeks since she had been taken away. Two torturous weeks that she has been missing. For two weeks he has been hiding away in his dark bedroom.

And two weeks he has been haunted with those three words.

_Troy, I'm waiting._

He closed his eyes, her smiling face appearing immediately. Not being able to bear the pain, he opened them again. Finding no use in trying to go back to sleep, he turned his head tiredly.

His eyes landed on the picture frame that was resting idly on his bedside table. His frown deepened as he gazed upon her smiling face that was perched happily on his back that fun day at the amusement park all those years ago. He picked up the frame, his eyes not leaving her face. His thumb smoothly outlined the side of her face, imagining he was actually caressing her soft skin.

_Troy, I'm waiting._

Then it hit him like a speeding train, like a long awaited epiphany. She was waiting. Waiting for _him_.

It was a sign, or so he thought. She was waiting for him to get off his sorry ass and find her. His mind raced back to that moment they shared, right after that drunk at the party, tried to rape her. He had promised her he'd always protect her.

He broke his promise. He failed her.

But no, he would not fail her again. He knew, somewhere out there Gabriella was waiting for him to fulfill his promise. A sudden rush of determination sweeped through his body, he could feel his muscles tense. He set the picture back where it belonged, before throwing the covers off of his lower body and swiftly getting out of bed. He winced at his stiff muscles, not used to the fast physical activity. The only reasons he got out of bed for the past two weeks were to go to the bathroom and to eat.

He shook off the numb feeling and speed walked to the bathroom. He freshened up, then ran back out to his bedroom to throw on some clothes. He was trying to be quiet, for it was 3:15 AM and he didn't want his parents waking up and stopping him from doing what he knew he needed to do. He grabbed his necessities then headed towards the door, turning back once to glance at the picture frame one last time and whispering,

"Hold on Gabs, I'm coming."

* * *

Gabriella could feel her body shake as she heard the loud footsteps approaching the door. Aaron came in with a greasy bag of food, a smile plastered on his face.

"Order up! I hope you don't mind a little grease on your burger." He said as if there were no cares in the world.

"You sick jackass." The terrified brunette whispered under her breath, not wanting to dig herself a deeper hole than she was already in.

"What was that?" He inquired, his smile faltering and his eyes turning to slits.

"Um, nothing."

"That's what I thought." He replied, his smile returning.

He continued, "look Gabs, I know you're kind of uncomfortable. But don't worry. I have something planned for tomorrow that will surely satisfy all your wants and pleasures."

Gabriella shuddered, "wha..what do you mean?"

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle." He said sadistically.

She could feel her body tense and her anger boil, not being able to hold in her temper any longer she jumped up from her small corner in between the wall and the bed and narrowed her eyes, "you psycho, if you lay one hand on me, I will make it so you wish you were never born." She seethed her hatred showing.

"Look you little bitch, stop denying me or else you're going to wish _you_ were never born. Tomorrow night will be perfect, just wait. I know you're...inexperienced, but be glad you'll get to have your first time with the person you love."

"I. Do. Not. Love. You." She repeated for the millionth time in the last two weeks.

"Yah yah, I've heard it before. Keep convincing yourself that." He rolled his eyes as he got up and headed towards the door.

"Sleep well tonight, you're going to need it." He smirked disgustingly.

Gabriella winced as the door slammed shut. She pushed the bag aside and retreated back to the corner of the bed. She put her head in her hands and let the tears fall, uncontrollably. She looked up towards the ceiling,

"Troy, please, I'm waiting."

**I'm so sorry! I know you guys must hate me for having this be another filler type chapter, but it's all for a reason! Next chapter is the big one, I'll try and post it soon. But I'll probably post it sooner if you guys REVIEWED. It's easy, just press the little REVIEW button at the bottom of this page! Thanks for reading, love you all!**


	19. Tick Tock

**You guys must be really excited for this chapter, because I am! This is the big one, and it's gonna be pretty long, much to your delight I'm guessing haha, I'll try my best for it not to suck, but please review, whether your opinions are good or bad. 'Til next time! Oh yah and I'm immensely sorry for the long waits, I know I am a really bad updater but it takes me kind of a while to come up with what's going to happen so that it can be perfect. Thanks, love you all!**

**Chapter 19- Tick Tock**

Time was running out.

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket once again to glance at the numbers that were on the screen of the small device.

_4:16 PM_

He took in a deep breath as he felt his heart rate pick up. He could feel it, time was running out. He had a gut feeling that if he didn't find Gabriella tonight, it would be his last chance. He had to find her soon. He had to.

_Think, Troy, think!_

His mind replayed the first time he met Aaron at school, to the fateful day he disappeared with Gabriella. Troy stopped in his tracks, willing himself to think of anywhere else Aaron could have taken her. He had already checked everywhere possible for them to be. They couldn't have gotten far, seeing as though Aaron had no car and no money. Plus, if he was dragging Gabriella along, he couldn't have used public transportation to get anywhere because surely someone would have noticed that Gabriella was not with Aaron willingly.

The blue eyed boy groaned in frustration, falling to his knees on the ground. He lifted his head up and frowned when he saw the familiar park straight ahead of him. The swings motionless and the basketball court deserted. Suddenly, as if on que, the wind picked up. The two black swings sprang to life, the slight creaking sound echoing in the dark night. Troy's eyes widened as a memory flooded his mind.

_Flashback**********_

"_Guess who." Troy whispered as he placed his hands in front of Gabriella's eyes, completely ignoring the blonde boy one seat over who was sending daggers in his direction._

"_Hmm...lemme guess, Sean Faris?" She giggled._

"_Ha. Ha. Very funny." Troy replied as he took his seat on the opposite side of his girlfriend, noting the slight creak of the old desk. "So what were you guys talking about?" He continued. _

"_Oh, Aaron was just telling me about his summer last year, I'm so jealous." She playfully shoved Aaron, inquiring for him to talk._

"_Yah, I..um my parents own a cabin near the lake not too far from here, maybe you could come sometime Gabs..iella. It's really cool, there's a plasma screen T.V., all you can eat, and the lake is great." He sent a smirk in Troy's direction._

"_Yah that'd be cool, Troy could come too? It would be so fun!" She exclaimed excitedly._

"_Um yah whatever." Aaron gritted his teeth. _

"_So where's this place?" Troy asked as he laced his fingers with Gabriella's._

"_There's only one lake near here, Bolton."_

_End of flashback**********_

Troy gasped as the realization hit him. Why didn't he think of that before? Probably because it was weeks ago. He mentally cursed his bad memory and stood from his position. He pulled out his phone and dialed in a familiar number.

"Chad, it's me," he spoke low as he picked up his pace and headed towards his car, "I'm on my way somewhere and I'll need reinforcements."

* * *

Gabriella held in another sob as she pulled on the chain once more, trying to break it and free herself. But it was no use, she knew that no matter how many times she pulled it and however much she wanted it to just spontaneously combust, it wouldn't. Not unless she had the damn key that would go into the damn key hole. She was frustrated, was an understatement. It was beginning to get dark outside and she could sense the worst coming. Time was running out, she could hear the clock ticking inside her head. Tonight was the night all her hopes would die. Aaron was finally going to have his way with her and because of the damn chain, she couldn't do anything about it. He was stronger than her and the fact that she was weak from refusing to eat most of the food Aaron supplied her wasn't helping either. Her only hopes were that the stupid chain bringing her to her end would magically break, or that someone would save her just in the knick of time. But who was she kidding, this wasn't a fairytale. Her prince charming wasn't going to save her from the evil archenemy. Her Superman wasn't going to swoop in and take her to safety. They were in the middle of nowhere, there was no way Troy, let alone anyone else, would be able to find her in time. Her hopes were slowly diminishing and all she wanted was one more chance to see Troy and tell him she loves him, and always will.

If Aaron did what he was planning, then she probably wouldn't be able to look Troy in the face, let alone ever be intimate with him. The bad memories of what Aaron took from her would always be engraved into her mind, just the mere thought sickened her. She didn't want her first time to be with a psycho maniac. She wanted to feel loved, and love the person back. She wanted that person to be Troy. No way in hell is Aaron going to take her virginity. It was immensely important to her. She had always imagined her first time to be beautiful and meaningful. Now, Aaron was going to attempt to rob her of that, and she was not going to let him without a fight.

She whimpered in fear as she heard footsteps approaching the door. Remembering her prior thought about staying strong and fighting back, she straightened her back and lifted her head high, preparing to stop the inevitable.

She narrowed her eyes as she watched Aaron walk in and shut the door behind him, noting that he did not lock it like usual. He looked…formal. He was dressed in a dress shirt and jeans and had his hair gelled back. To the blind eye he would look somewhat attractive, but to Gabriella, he looked like a monster.

He brought his hand out from behind his back and held out a red rose.

"For you, my lady." He bowed.

"You're sick." She spat as she swatted the flower to the floor.

Aaron's happy demeanor was quickly replaced with an angry one as he lifted his hand up and slapped her with such a force that she fell back on the bed.

Gabriella gasped in shock as she clutched her aching cheek and lifted her face up to look him in the eyes.

"For your sake, I'm going to pretend that never happened and we are going to start over." He ordered as he approached her on the bed, placing his left hand on her thigh.

She kicked off his arm and backed up toward the corner that she was so familiar with.

"Feisty, I like feisty." Aaron smirked as he crawled closer to her, caging her in.

Suddenly, a plan formed in Gabriella's mind. She forced an innocent look on her face before speaking, "okay okay, I give in. I want you. I admit it."

"Finally...you see that I'm the one you love." He whispered as he placed both his hands on each of her thighs.

"Yes, I love you. Not Troy," she winced, trying to keep a straight face, trying not to give away her lie. She continued, "but please, this is my first time. If we're going to do this, I want to be more comfortable…can you please take the chain off of my ankle, it hurts." She formed a frown, following through on her plan smartly.

Aaron thought about it for a moment before getting up on his knees, "fine, but you have to promise you won't try and run away."

Gabriella stroked her finger along his cheek, "I promise I won't."

Aaron reached into his pocket and withdrew a small silver key. He smiled and crawled down the bed to reach the chain. He placed the key in the hole, turned it and _click. _The sound of sweet freedom.

He threw the chain on the floor and turned back around to face Gabriella.

"Thank you." She smiled.

He began crawling back up the bed but before he could touch her, she kicked him in the groin, causing Aaron to fall off the bed and groan in pain. She took this as her chance to get away so she jumped off the bed, feeling slightly dizzy from the lack of food and physical activity. She shook off the feeling, not wanting to waste any precious time. This might be her only chance to get away, and she wasn't going to let it slip by.

She ran to the door and opened it with a rough pull. She glanced back at Aaron who was still on the floor, clutching his stomach with his eyes closed.

She ran out of the room, looking both ways to find the way out. She jumped when she heard a loud yell.

She recognized Aaron's voice and panicked at the sound of footsteps. She ran down the short hallway, into a messy kitchen area with dirty dishes piling in the sink and only a dim lamp on a table next to a small couch. She saw a big wooden door ahead of her and began to run towards it. She reached for the knob and tried to open it but it wouldn't budge. It was locked.

"Uh uh uh. You're not going anywhere." She spun around quickly. Aaron was near the end of the hall, in a stance like he was a predator ready to kill his prey.

And she was the prey.

* * *

Troy shut off the car engine as he stared at the small, yet somewhat large cabin. It was wood with an eerie feeling practically radiating from it. There was a large wooden door in the front and a small window where he could see a dim light. He approached the house cautiously, stopping to pick up a wooden plank, just in case. Aaron is a psycho, Troy wasn't about to walk in there defenseless. He became alert when he heard an agonizing scream from inside the house. His worry was outshined by his anger and determination. He rushed towards the house, reaching to open the door, then groaning as he realized it was locked. He changed directions and headed towards the small window. He looked through it and saw a small kitchen, sofa, and a lamp. _Plasma screen my ass_. He tried to open the window, but it was locked. So he did what he needed to do out of desperation, he lifted the plank and smashed the window. Glass scattered everywhere, but Troy didn't waste any time. He jumped through the window and looked around cautiously.

"No! Please!" He stopped in his tracks when he heard the plead. _Her _plead.

His senses came back to him as he began to sprint down the hall and toward the source of the noise. He came across two doors; one of them had a dim light coming from inside. He attempted to open it, but it was locked. Damn locked doors.

He did the only thing he could think of, he kicked it.

"Help!" He heard Gabriella sob and that was enough motivation for him to ram his whole body into the door, breaking it down effectively.

He shook off the pain in his arm from ramming the door down and put all his attention on saving the girl he loves.

Gabriella was pinned down on the bed, her shirt nearly ripped off. Aaron was half way on top of her, caught off guard and completely bewildered.

"Get off of her." Troy growled as he approached them. He pulled Aaron off of the bed and threw him to the floor.

Gabriella thought she was dreaming. No way was Troy here, saving her from her nightmare. She backed up into the corner, staring wide eyed at him.

"Gabs." Troy whispered as he held out his hand for her, noting her fear. He couldn't blame her, she was seriously traumatized, he'd be freaked out too.

Gabriella looked into Troy's breathtaking blue eyes and the realization dawned upon her. He was here. He had come to save her. Maybe fairytales do come true.

A grin erupted on her face as she launched herself into his arms, inhaling his sweet smell and clutching to him like her life depended on it. They pulled apart after a few seconds and looked into each other's eyes.

"Told you I'd always protect you, I'm just sorry I was late." He whispered as he brought her in for a long awaited kiss.

As they were enjoying the bliss of being in each other's arms again, they completely forgot about Aaron. Bad idea.

Aaron could feel the bile rising in his throat as he watched Troy and Gabriella share a moment. _His_ Gabriella. A rush of pure fury caused him to scream and snap the two lovebirds out of there reverie. He lunged at Troy, pulling him off of Gabriella and throwing him to the floor, much like Troy did with him previously. Gabriella jumped off the bed and charged at Aaron and started hitting him in the chest repeatedly but Aaron was not fazed. He punched Gabriella in the face and watched her fall to the floor. Then, he turned his attention back on Troy.

He kicked Troy in the stomach with as much force he could muster. Troy gasped for breath as he felt the strong pain. Aaron picked up Troy by his shirt and punched him repeatedly.

"I'm going to get rid of you once and for all." He said through his clenched teeth. He dragged Troy out of the room and after unlocking the door, pulled him out of the cabin. He kicked Troy once again when he felt Troy try and pull his leg to stop him. They arrived near the shore of the lake, the only light being from the moon.

He picked up Troy by the shirt again, they were face to face.

"She's mine and always will be." He spat as he pulled Troy up more. He was about to throw Troy into the cool, calm waters of the lake when he heard Gabriella.

"I will never be yours!" She seethed right before she drew back the wooden plank and swung it forward, at Aaron's head, with as much force she had left in her.

Aaron fell to the ground, unconscious. She rushed to aid Troy, who was next to Aaron, clutching his stomach and looking wide eyed at Aaron's limp body.

"Are you alright?" She skid to the dirty ground, on her knees as she examined Troy's body.

"I am now." He whispered, still in pain. He cupped her cheek with his right palm and then pulled her in for a hug. After a few minutes, Gabriella helped Troy to a standing position.

"Wait." Gabriella said as she let go of Troy and turned around, back towards Aaron.

She started to repeatedly kick him, her lingering anger spilling out with her actions.

She swung her leg back and it collided with Aaron's chest, "that's for Nancy."

She kicked him again, "that's for all the other girls you harassed."

She kicked him again, "that's for Troy."

She started to sob uncontrollably, the traumatizing events finally hitting her.

"And this, this is for me." She kicked him with as much strength she could muster up. She let out another sob before turning around and being engulfed into the arms of her savior.

"Everything's going to be okay now." Troy whispered as he pulled her closer to him, ignoring the sharp pain in his stomach from the contact. They pulled apart, Gabriella put Troy's arm over her shoulder, sensing he was in pain and trying to support some of his weight. They headed back up the way they came and as the dreadful cabin came into view, so did many bright lights. A police officer took a few steps towards them, shining a flash light in their faces.

He approached them with a worried smile, "don't worry kids, everything's going to be okay."

They looked at each other simultaneously and for the first time in a long time, they truly believed everything really was going to be okay.

**OH MY GOSH. That was so hard to write. It's really long, much longer than my chapters usually are, but I think you guys deserve it. I wanted to make it perfect, I really hope I didn't disappoint! What did you guys think? I was sooo nervous about messing this chapter up so PLEASE REVIEW. I really really need some feedback or I might go insane. I did my best, thanks for being patient and reading. I'll try and update soon! Unfortunately, this story is coming to an end. Bummer, I know. But every good song has to end sometime right? **


	20. Moving On

**Hey guys, I'm sad to say this story is coming to an end. This is the last chapter, I know, I'm kinda depressed about it too. But it had a good run and I'm really proud of where this story has come. I just want to say thank you so much to all my readers and to everyone who has favorited/reviewed/alerted this story. It really means a lot to me and I am very grateful that you guys took your time to do so when I know some people couldn't bother to. I don't know if I'm going to start on a new story after this one, but if you'd like me to, please let me know. I have a few ideas up my sleeve on a brand new story but I'm not sure which one is the best. **

**Thank you so much again guys, I appreciate you all immensely.**

**Now for the final chapter of 'Lost Time'! I hope I don't disappoint, this is going to be a very long chapter, because you guys deserve it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical...unfortunately.**

**Chapter 20- Moving On**

The love a mother has for their child is irrevocable and unbreakable. Once that beautiful baby boy or girl enters the world, life brightens immediately. There are people out there who take their children for granted, shoving them aside as if they were a burden. But for one mother in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that was not the case. When this mother found out her daughter was taken away from her, her whole world darkened. Her heart broke. Her faith vanished. All she could do was hope that her once baby girl would come back to her. That she would miraculously appear. She had been missing for over two weeks now. But when this mother got a phone call late at night saying that her daughter had been found and was safe, she could only react in one way.

Maria Montez dropped to the floor, clutching the telephone in one hand, the other covering her agape mouth. As she hit the cold, hard floor, she could feel her heart piece back together. So she did the one thing she had been doing for two weeks. She cried. But this time, she cried out of pure joy.

* * *

"Gabriella Montez! I'm her mother!" The middle aged woman yelled, tears still streaming down her face.

"Third floor, room 302." The bored looking woman at the reception desk answered with a small smile as she continued to chew the worn out piece of gum in her mouth.

Maria Montez didn't have to think twice before sprinting, as best as she could due to her age, toward the silver elevator. She pressed the up arrow button hysterically, waiting impatiently until the doors slid open. Rushing inside, she pressed the number three. She fidgeted with her fingers, watching the numbers light up as the elevator reached each floor. When the doors opened, she was blinded by an array of white. She looked to her right and saw a few distraught people sitting in small chairs. Obviously, it was a waiting room. She shook her head, trying to get her vision back to normal, it was blurred due to the many tears that still remained in her chocolate brown orbs. She willed her legs to move as fast as possible down the long hallway ahead of her.

_300…301…302!_

She pushed open the door, her eyes immediately searching for her beautiful baby girl. They landed on a figure, lying still on the small hospital bed in the center of the white room. Her brown locks sprawled across the pillow, clashing with the pure white of the cotton sheet. The older version of the teenage girl asleep in the hospital gown, rushed to the side of the bed.

"Gabriella, oh my baby." She whispered and then hesitantly reached out to touch her frail hand, as if touching her would wake her and this all would be a dream.

She took her daughter's hand in her own, squeezing tight, silently thanking the higher powers for bringing her daughter back safe and sound.

Gabriella stirred in her sleep, slowly opening her eyes, sensing her mother's presence.

"Mom." She whispered as a smile appeared on her pale face.

At that, Maria Montez burst out in fresh tears. She launched herself at her only daughter, enveloping her in a long awaited hug.

"Oh my baby, I've missed you." She said as she pulled back.

"I've missed you too, Mami." Gabriella said as she sat up.

"Where are you hurt?" Maria suddenly said frantically, her eyes scanning every part of her daughter's body, searching for injuries.

She then realized the slight bruise under Gabriella's eye, and leant forward to examine it further.

"Oh sweetheart, your eye. What happened?"

"Long story, but I'm not really hurt. My body is just weaker than it should be, apparently. The doctor said it's because of the lack of food and exercise." Gabriella replied.

Maria gasped as she noticed the change in her daughter. She was paler than usual and definitely lost a lot of weight. Her hair looked dull and her eyes had small bags under them, most likely due to the lack of sleep.

"Gabi, I'm so glad you're okay. If I ever get my hands on that Aaron boy, the sins I commit then..." Maria said somewhat seriously.

"Mom, there's no need. He's already getting his punishment. He was sent back to his home town across the country where he'll be locked up in jail for a long, long time." Gabriella sighed, relieved that she was finally free from the boy who took so much away from her.

"Please Gabi, tell me what happened...if you're ready, that is." Maria pulled up a chair to the side of the bed.

"Okay, well Aaron took me to this cabin near the lake. You know the one around here?" Maria nodded. "He locked me up in a room there, chained me to the bed. He brought me food but I only ate it some days. I usually refused. The only times he let me out were to go to the bathroom, and even then he stood outside the door. After the first week, he started dropping weird hints. He kept…touching me inappropriately." Gabriella shuddered at the memory. She took a deep breath, willing herself to continue.

"Finally, he told me of his plans…he wanted to sleep with me. I told him to stay away from me and only over my dead body was that going to happen. He told me he was planning it for the next day. I was determined to fight back and not let it happen, but he was so much stronger than me. When the day arrived, he came in and gave me a rose and tried to make it romantic but I was…disgusted. I tried to get out but the chain was still around my ankle, so I formed a plan. I told him that I would have sex with him willingly if he took the chain off. I lied and told him I loved him. I felt filthy even letting those words come out of my mouth. I felt like I was betraying Troy. But I knew I was just saying those things to escape. So then Aaron took off the chain and I kicked him and ran for the front door, but it was locked. He grabbed me and forced me back to the bedroom. He was so close to getting my shirt off when Troy came."

Maria gasped, she wasn't aware that Troy had anything to do with Gabriella's return.

"He pulled Aaron off of me…my knight and shining armor." Gabriella smiled thoughtfully. The grin slowly disappearing as she recalled what happened next.

"Then Aaron got up and hit Troy, and then he hit me." She pointed towards her eye. "He picked up Troy and brought him outside and was about to throw him in the lake when I hit him on the head with a piece of wood. He became unconscious and then I and Troy returned to the house to be met with the police, along with Chad. Troy didn't come unprepared." She sighed, feeling an enormous weight lift from her shoulders after talking about the horrific event.

"Oh my. I had no clue Troy is the one that saved you. I only saw him once after you disappeared. Lucille brought me upstairs to his room to see him. But he was a wreck Gabi. He wouldn't come out from under the covers and only spoke to tell us to get out. Lucille said he hadn't come out of his room since you were taken. You being kidnapped really affected him." She informed Gabriella as she squeezed her hand again.

"It affected me too. I hated being away from him. But I somehow knew that if anyone was going to get me out of that horrid place, it would be him…and it was. I feel terrible though, he always ends up getting hurt on my behalf...he's always saving me. I've been badgering the nurse, but she won't tell me anything that's going on with him except that he will be fine. I guess that's all I can ask for. That he will be okay. I want to see him so badly though Mami. But these stupid people won't let me out of here. I know he's in the room next to mine. I've tried making a run for it, but they always catch me half way there." She crossed her arms, frustrated.

"I know you want to see him. I do too, he saved my baby girl. I couldn't have asked for anyone better for you than him. He really loves you sweetheart, I'll talk to the doctors and see if they'll let you go see him for at least a short time." Maria replied.

"Really? Thank you, thank you! I love him so much mom, I really do. I went two years without him. Now two weeks. I'm going to go crazy." She sighed.

"I know mi hija, just give me a few minutes. I'm going to go talk to your doctor about your condition and Troy. I can't make any promises but I will try my best. Stay put." Gabriella's mother sat up from the chair and planted a soft kiss to her daughter's forehead before walking back towards the door with a smile.

* * *

Troy groaned as he turned in the small bed again. The rustling of the sheets underneath him an all too familiar sound. He was completely restless, wanting nothing more than to see Gabriella. He'd been arguing with the nurse all day, asking to see her but no, he had to stay in bed and friggin' rest. As if he hadn't rested enough for the past two weeks. He just wanted to walk to the room next door, was that so much to ask for? To top it all off he couldn't even turn on his stomach because his ribs were fractured from Aaron's continuous blows.

"Fuck this." He muttered out of frustration as he threw the covers off of himself and placed his feet on the cold tile. Grimacing at the ugly pale blue hospital pants and top he had on, he quickly put a sweatshirt on from the bag his mom and dad brought him earlier that day. He slowly made his way towards the door, peeking out to make sure the annoying nurse was nowhere in sight to catch him in the act. He stepped out of his room, looking both ways and then quickly and conspicuously speed walking towards the room on his right. He pulled open the door, the only light in the room coming from the T.V. that was stationed on the top corner of the wall with only a soft sound coming from it. His eyes landed on the bed, with a wide eyed Gabriella sitting upright.

"Troy!" She exclaimed with a wide grin gracing her face.

"Shh Gabi, the bossy nurse will find me!" He whispered as he quickly made his way to her bed with a matching grin.

He took her in his arms, breathing in the scent of her newly washed hair. He kissed her everywhere, first her forehead, then both of her cheeks, then her nose and finally he cupped her cheeks with both his hands to meet her halfway for a long awaited kiss. She smiled into the kiss as she felt his tongue trace the outline of her lips, asking for entrance. She happily obliged and moaned as their tongues danced together, two weeks worth of passion spilling out. They pulled apart, the need for air becoming too much to bear. They smiled as they leaned their foreheads together. Gabriella leant forward to peck Troy on the lips once more before scooting over on the bed and pulling up the covers, inviting Troy to join her. He smiled as he got under the covers and pulled Gabriella into his arms, silently promising to never let her go again. She laid her head on his chest, holding his waist tightly. He kissed her forehead one last time, before closing his eyes contently. It didn't take long for both of them to drift off to sleep, finally able to dream peacefully now that they were back in each others arms.

* * *

**TEN YEARS LATER**

The sun's rays shone majestically on the hot summer day, welcoming the happy faces scattered around the green grass of the Bolton's backyard.

A beautiful brunette stepped down onto the patio, one hand being used as a shield to the bright light and the other resting on her round stomach.

"Gabi! Over here!" She smiled as she saw the perky blonde waving to her. She slowly made her way over, noticing the other dark skinned woman awaiting her arrival.

"Hey guys, I'm so glad both of you could make it." She said excitedly as she attempted to hug each of her long time friends.

"Of course!" Sharpay exclaimed, as she threw her arm around Gabriella. "Look at you Mrs. Bolton, you are glowing."

"Thanks Shar, but I don't feel glowing. I'm hungry and my feet are killing me." The brunette replied as she wiggled her toes in her white flats, "I don't know how you can wear heels right now." She added.

"Well if I had a bun in the oven, then I wouldn't be able to wear these Jimmy Choos either." Sharpay gasped as the realization hit her, "oh my God, that would be a crime. I rock these shoes."

Gabriella laughed as she rubbed her large stomach, "I think having a baby is worth going without heels. I don't even wear them all the time anyways, they're uncomfortable."

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that and blame it on your mood swings." Sharpay said, appalled.

"Oh leave Gabi alone, just because she's not a fashion diva like you, Shar." Taylor retorted as she took a sip from the cup in her hand.

Sharpay shot Taylor a glare before huffing and taking a swig from her own cup. Taylor just laughed and bumped her shoulder to Sharpay's, a sign to show that she was just joking.

Gabriella giggled, entertained by the two in front of her. She heard a loud chuckle not too far away and turned her head to see her husband of five years and his best friend goofing off whilst poking at the cooking food on the large grill.

"Oh lord, Chad can't go ten minutes without food." Taylor laughed as she watched her husband suck his finger, obviously from being burnt.

"Looks like he tried to take something off the grill, moron." Sharpay commented.

"I better go help him or else he's going to whine about it all day." Taylor said as she left the other two girls to go aid her husband of four years.

Gabriella let another giggle escape her lips before turning her attention back on her husband who was still silently chuckling in front of the grill. As if sensing someone was watching him, he lifted his head to meet the gaze of his wife. He smiled and sent her a wink.

"Momma!" Gabriella's eyes left Troy's and drifted down towards her three year old daughter who was clinging onto her white dress.

"Yes Lily, what's wrong?" Gabriella spoke softly as she stroked her soft hair.

"Twavis is gonna get me!" The little girl shrieked as her sparkling blue eyes darted around the backyard, then pointed frantically at an African American boy running towards them.

As Travis Danforth approached them, Sharpay grabbed a hold of his arm to hold him back.

"Aww come on Auntie Sharpay, we were just playing tag!" The four year old boy whined, as he crossed his arms across his chest and stuck his tongue out at Lily, who mimicked his playful action.

"Okay, but be careful." Gabriella said as Sharpay let go of the toddler in her grasp and watched as Lily quickly darted across the yard and around the people in the way, Travis fast on her trail.

Liliana Belle Bolton was born three years ago, with her mother's curly locks, though a lighter brown , and her father's dazzling blue eyes. With her feisty behavior and cute demeanor, she won the hearts of anyone and everyone who laid eyes on her, especially those of her parents. Troy and Gabriella married at the ripe age of twenty-two, their love still as strong as ever. Chad and Taylor soon followed, exchanging vows a year after Troy and Gabriella. Although Troy and Gabriella were married for longer, Taylor gave birth to Travis Chase Danforth many months before Liliana came into the world, making him four years old, and Lily only three. Sharpay and Zeke were also married only one year ago, after a few ups and downs.

Troy is currently the new gym teacher at East High, after playing basketball a few years for the L.A Lakers, he quit in order to be with his family more often. Gabriella got a degree in teaching, which she pursued for the first few years after graduating college, but then quit to be a stay at home when she learnt of her pregnancy with Lily, planning on returning as a teacher in the future, when the time was right.

Chad is still playing basketball for the Lakers, not being able to give it up just yet and Taylor is an aspiring lawyer at one of the close by law firms in Albuquerque. Sharpay is opening her own boutique, pursuing her dreams in fashion and Zeke has a very successful bakery in Albuquerque, also pursuing his dream. Kelsi and Jason are living in California and are currently engaged to be married, coming back home often to see their friends and family.

"Food's ready!" Troy yelled, clapping his hands to add emphasis.

"Finally, I'm starving!" Gabriella yelled exaggeratively as she grabbed Sharpay's wrist and dragged her towards the food table. Everyone made their way towards the long table in the large lawn filled with food, complimenting Troy along the way.

"I can't take all the credit, Zeke made most of it, I just cooked the meat." Troy admitted as he patted Zeke on the back, causing Zeke to almost drop his own plate.

Gabriella sat down on one of the many plastic chairs, placing her plate on the seat next to her and turning towards her daughter who was trying to get on the seat next to her mother without dropping her food. Gabriella placed her arm around her daughter and tried pulling her up on the seat, until another pair of arms came into view and easily lifted up the little girl by the waist.

"I could have done it." Gabriella stated stubbornly.

"Mmhmm, I'm sure. You're pregnant, you shouldn't be trying to lift her anyways." Troy replied as he leaned down to kiss his wife, then his daughter on the forehead.

"Yah yah I'm pregnant, not crippled." The twenty seven year old woman replied.

Troy chuckled before taking a seat on the other side of his Lily, who was munching her food happily.

"Hey Lily Bee." Troy cooed as he gazed adoringly at his little girl, using his nickname for her.

"Hey daddy!" Lily said excitedly, looking up from her food for a second.

Gabriella took her own plate and started to eat it fast, not wasting a second.

"Wow, baby, slow down there. You don't want to choke." Troy commented.

"I'm eating for two, I have every right to pig out." Gabriella replied as she continued eating.

After a few minutes, Lily finished her food and eagerly asked to go back and play with Travis. Troy took Lily's vacant seat and put his arm around his wife. Gabriella didn't even notice, too caught up in the yummy food in her lap. Troy watched in admiration, even when she was shoving food down her throat and had a huge stomach she looked beautiful, her white summer dress surprisingly still spot free and her hair in long curls around her shoulders. She finished eating and placed the empty plate on the floor next to her chair before turning towards her husband who was staring at her lovingly.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" She asked as she touched her cheek.

Troy leant down and kissed her softly on the lips, "nope."

She giggled before lacing their fingers together and standing from the small white chair.

"Come with me?" She almost whispered as Troy stood up.

"Always." He replied. Gabriella began walking towards the large tree in the vast backyard that was away from everyone occupying it. She sat down against the trunk, pulling Troy down with her.

"You know, this is our house and our barbeque. Don't you think people will notice if we went missing?" Troy questioned as he looked into Gabriella's chocolate brown orbs that he knew so well.

She shrugged in response as she laid her head on Troy's shoulder and began playing with his fingers.

Troy kissed her forehead then found himself silently laughing.

"What?" Gabriella smiled as she watched her husband laugh to himself randomly.

"It's just…It's kind of funny. We've come so far and I can't help but be thankful to Miss Darbus."

"Miss Darbus? Our old English teacher?" Troy nodded, "what does she have to do with anything?"

"Well, she's the one that paired us together for that English project, about "Romeo and Juliet" remember?" Troy replied.

"Oh yah, we were in that rut before she paired us and we were forced to talk to each other again." Gabriella reminisced with a thoughtful smile.

"Rut? I wouldn't call it a rut." Troy scrunched his eyebrows, "we were just…on a break."

"A two year break? That's a heck of a long break." Gabriella laughed.

"Well, it changed a lot. We were just friends before and then after the project, we became more, and I'm extremely grateful for that because we wouldn't be here now, we wouldn't have Lily or the baby on the way." Troy smiled down at her bulging bump.

Gabriella raised her head and kissed him slowly. They parted, "I wouldn't change a thing…except maybe the Aaron incident." She laughed.

Troy laughed himself, glad that they were able to joke about it so easily now.

"You know, I liked you when we were fifteen too. I just didn't get to tell you because that stupid Matt guy got to you first and then we had that fight that lasted way longer than it should have."

"Really? Well you should have told me you dummy!" Gabriella laughed and whacked him on the arm with her hand.

Troy laughed at her choice of words then kissed the back of Gabriella's hand sofly and gazed down at her, "I love you, Mrs. Bolton."

"I love you too, Mr. Bolton." She giggled, "so I guess we have Miss Darbus to thank for snapping us out of our two year rut."

Troy chuckled, "I think we probably would have forgotten about the fight eventually and became friends again with or without Darbus forcing us into a project together. That break couldn't have lasted that much longer."

"True, one of us would have caved and talked to the other…eventually." Troy nodded. "And will you stop calling it a 'break,' it wasn't a 'break' because we weren't dating. We were just friends at the time. 'Break' sounds weird." Gabriella wrinkled her nose.

"Okay smarty pants, what would you call it then." He defended, watching as Gabriella looked at their entwined hands thoughtfully.

She snuggled into his side, kissing the side of his neck affectionately, "it was just Lost Time…that took a while for us to find."

THE END

**PLEASE READ, IT'S THE LAST AUTHOR'S NOTE EVER FOR THIS STORY: Oh my gosh, I feel so nostalgic and sad that this is the end of 'Lost Time.' It was so amazing writing this story and reading what you guys thought of it in your reviews, so I'd like to thank all of you especially who reviewed and all of you in the future who will review (hopefully). This last chapter was definitely the hardest for me to write. It took me a while because I probably read it over like 20 times, trying to make it perfect for you guys. I'm still not completely satisfied with it but I couldn't hold it back any longer because I know how frustrated you guys must get when I take forever to update. I tried my very best with this story and I really hope I didn't disappoint any of you. I love you all for taking your time to read this, it means the world to me. I'm not sure if I'm going to start another story, but we'll see. Thanks again, I appreciate every single one of my readers. Now for the last time ever during 'Lost Time' I'm asking you guys to PLEASE REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! This is the last time I'm asking you because this is the most important chapter and I'd like to know what you guys thought of the story overall! Please tell me your honest opinions, whether they're good or bad. I want to know and I look forward to reading what you guys think. **

**I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it. **

**Love you all!**


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